Khammam: Vigilance and enforcement officials, probing rule violations in Khammam municipal corporation (KMC), identified several discrepancies in the collection of trade licence fees and replacement of outsourced workers.
The probe found that sanitary inspectors, who collect trade licence fees, were unaware of the specified fee and collected it as per their estimates. Also, section clerks were not aware of it either, despite the KMC issuing a gazette notification, identifying 354 businesses.
The vigilance and enforcement officials took written statements from sanitary inspectors Mallaiah, Ramesh, Shaik Babu and P. Venkateswarlu, and section clerks on their ignorance. It is estimated to have cost the exchequer lakhs of rupees.
The probe also found that the corporation was paying provident funds and ESI to former outsourced employees, as their replacements continued to work the same IDs. However, this causes problems for workers to access their respective benefits.
As many as 200 such cases were identified by the officials. In most cases, the process was done without notifying the KMC commissioner, it was found.
Probe officials said that this is indicative of corrupt practices, as workers leaving outsourced posts bribe officials into getting their ID continued for continued benefits.
A source in vigilance and enforcement said that they collected all details and submitted a report on it to the government, as such a practice is not only a violation of norms but also constitutes a crime.
