This incident comes at a time when contractors are protesting against the Raipur Municipal Corporation, claiming a massive amount of Rs 100 crore worth of dues go unpaid and accused of being demanded compulsory payment of commissions.
The protesters protested that payment files don’t move unless commissions are paid. Many contractors have been waiting for bills to be paid for the six months to longer than a year, and paid mounting interest costs on bank loans, all while calling home office sales companies requesting that they settle the debt that they’ve gradually incurred.
The contractors said that there are extra unofficial payments which they are forced to pay under the threat of unnecessary statutory deductions (GST, security deposit etc.) before bills are paid. They also claimed that different officials, zonal representatives and elected men/pelusa ask for different percentages prior to approving payments.
Officials were also blamed by members of the contractors’ association for forcing contractors to complete extra work without remuneration which often causes penalties against contractors when work is delayed, while projects get remunerated for being completed on time.
Performance of inadequate work is sometimes accepted in course of execution but responsible for all irregularity or problem meeting only the contractor, the association alleged.
One of the contractors also claimed to have incurred monetary losses or legal harassment due to some invoices he had sent received and the total outstanding payment of over ₹1 crore remains unpaid.
The head of the contractors’ association, Durgesh, stated that in the past few months, corruption in the civic body has been going out of hand and alleged contractors were increasingly struggling to action the issue of payments.
The officials confirmed that they will still hold on to the protest and disrupt any civic work until outstanding dues are cleared and allegations made by them are rectified. A detailed response to the claims from the municipal authorities has not been made yet.