BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday served showcause notice to three private sanitation agencies for collecting user fees from households in gated communities and commercial establishments.
The agencies Jagruti, Ramky and PMR Consortium engaged in providing sanitation services in areas under the jurisdiction of BMC were found collecting user fees in some residential as well as commercial areas. BMC Sanjay Kumar Singh had instructed to serve showcause notice to the the agencies for such unlawful practice.
“The BMC is also carrying out awareness drive on user fees paid towards waste management services to ensure that no user pays the fee to any agency other than BMC,” said the civic body’s deputy commissioner for sanitation Suvendu Kumar Sahoo.
User fee is charged as per Municipal Solid Waste Management By-laws 2018. The minimum user fee charged from individual households is Rs 50 per month. However, the amount varies depending on the area of the residential complex or commercial establishment.
All citizens, apartment complexes, bulk waste generators, gated communities, malls, hotels, restaurants, educational institutions, big fast food chains, health care units, cinema halls and multiplexes, kalyan mandaps, industries as well as exhibition and fair organisers have been urged to pay the user fees only to BMC and not to any private agency.
The private agencies, however, refuted BMC’s claims. “We have strictly asked our field supervisors and staff engaged in collection of door-to-door waste not to collect such fee from any household, community or establishment,” said the official of an agency.