Bengaluru: Forced to pay 50% commissions for projects, say corporation contractors

The contractors also allege that they have not been paid for the past 22 months.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike headquarters. (Photo: File)

Civil contractors in the Karnataka capital have alleged that they are being forced to pay 50 per cent commissions for projects of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

KT Manjunath, president of the BBMP Working Contractors Association, wrote to chief commissioner Tushar Girinath on Tuesday that contractors were being asked to pay 50 per cent commissions in every office of the municipal corporation and that funds would not be released if they did not oblige the officials.

For the past 22 months, the association’s letter alleged, the contractors have not been paid for the work they have done. On top of it, new orders have been issued providing for assistant engineers, assistant executive engineers and the chief engineer as well as elected representatives to review documents related to projects, it said.

“Despite works being completed and files being cleared for the release of payment after field inspections by the officers, the files are sent to other offices where commissions are being demanded,” M Deveraj, honorary president of the association said in the letter.

Field visits are taking many months owing to staff shortages in the technical vigilance cell under the commissioner and the quality monitoring wing. As a result, contractors have to wait for months to get funds released by the bill registry, the association said. “If these issues are not addressed, we will stop all the work and the association members will hold protests,” its letter read.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram