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Nitish Sharma
Tribune News Service
Ambala, July 31
The local Municipal Corporation (MC) has started accepting payments for the service charges of door-to-door garbage collection online.
There are nearly 1.25 lakh households and nearly 75,000 other establishment under Ambala city and Sadar zones from which garbage is collected. A senior official said, “The MC pays nearly Rs 70 lakh to the contractor of door-to-door garbage collection per month and by starting the online payment option the corporation is eyeing revenue of at least Rs 60 lakh a month in the beginning. The service charges vary according to the area (size) of houses and other establishments.”
“People had been complaining that they have been paying charges to garbage collectors but the money was not deposited with the corporation. On the other hand, the contractor had expressed his inability to collect the service charge. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the decision was taken and it would be beneficial for the cash-strapped corporation,” he added.
MC Commissioner Satyender Duhan said, “The service charge along with arrears are to be collected from nearly 2 lakh consumers and it is not possible for the corporation to send employees door to door to collect it as the civic body is short of staff. To bring transparency, set accountability and generate revenue for the corporation, it was decided to start generating receipts online.”
“Now people can easily pay the service charge on the website of the corporation. People have the option to pay the charges monthly, quarterly or annually,” he added.
Duhan said, “In order to keep Ambala clean, a campaign is also being run under which the corporation is eyeing 30 per cent waste segregation at source. For the purpose, the corporation will procure and distribute 2.50 lakh blue and green bins to all households.”
Mayor Ramesh Mal feels that the response of online payments was likely to be tepid. He said, “For higher recovery, it would have been better if it was added to house tax.”
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