AMC conducts commercial surveys in city

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad: The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has appointed a Mumbai-based Ornet Technology to conduct the survey of commercial establishments and implement the collection of license fees in the city. However, it is alleged that the ground staff appointed by the agency are not cooperative and are behaving rudely with the business fraternity!

It may be noted that the state government has already ordered the AMC to collect the license fee from the business fraternity. Earlier, the AMC general body (GB) in 2019 had passed the proposal of collecting license fees from businessmen. However, the AMC delayed implementing the collection following strong opposition from shopkeepers. The auditors had also raised their objections in their report. The civic administration again passed the proposal for license fee collection on June 29, 2022. The decision again witnessed stiff opposition, but the AMC has made up its mind to collect the fees at any cost. Accordingly, the tender process was completed and the above agency was shortlisted.

The responsibility of the agency includes the registration of new businesses and existing shops. The AMC will be paying Rs 395 per survey to the agency, while each businessman will pay Rs 245 to the agency.

The agency appointed a team of personnel for the survey. They have been issued identity cards like AMC employees. It has been observed that these employees are new and deprived of adequate knowledge of the details relating to the license fees, issuing trade licenses etc. Moreover, they are also not polite in communication and behave in a rude way, it is said.

The Mumbai-based agency ascertains that there could be 43,063 businesses in the city. Of which, the ground survey of 26,000 businessmen has been completed and the papers of 22,000 traders and shopkeepers have been collected by them, said the civil officers.

It has come to notice that this agency personnel are visiting the establishments and offices of the businessmen and others and are allegedly misbehaving with them in the name of AMC.