AAP accuses EDMC of piling additional fee on doctors with own clinics

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led East Delhi Municipal Corporations (EDMC) of imposing an additional charge of ₹24,000 per year, towards garbage collection, on doctors who have their own clinics, and demanded its immediate rollback

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led East Delhi Municipal Corporations (EDMC) of imposing an additional charge of ₹24,000 per year, towards garbage collection, on doctors who have their own clinics, and demanded its immediate rollback. BJP and EDMC officials, however, said the charges were imposed in line with a Delhi government notification.

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“The BJP-led MCD has given a shock on Doctor’s Day. Doctors will now have to pay an additional fee of ₹24,000 annually for the removal of garbage. Each doctor’s clinic will now have to pay ₹30,000 annually to the east MCD for garbage removal -- an additional fee of ₹24,000 introduced alongside the previous annual fee of ₹6,000, which was imposed for disposal of bio-medical waste,” said AAP MLA and party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj.

“After looting traders with manifold taxes and license fees, doctors are on the MCD’s target. BJP’s MCD has also introduced a professional tax to be levied on professionals like CAs, architects, doctors, etc. It is ridiculous and condemnable that the MCD has stooped down to loot people with irrational taxes and fees. We demand immediate rollback of the additional fees imposed on doctors with their own clinics,” he said.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP general secretary Shri Harsh Malhotra said the additional charges were ordered by the Delhi government. “AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj’s statement on arbitary raising of waste removal charges from ₹6,000 to ₹30,000 annually is misleading. These charges have not been levied by East MCD but ordered by Delhi government on January 15, 2018. East MCD has been forced to implement under repeated reminders from Delhi government. The new charges will be levied as per medical unit, i.e. clinic, nursing home and hospital size and waste generated. Despite new provisions, no substantial rise will happen for normal next door physician clinics and small nursing homes too will be nominally affected. Only larger hospitals will have to pay in higher slab,” he said.

East MCD mayor Shyam Sundar said, “The Delhi government should withdraw its gazette notification dated January 15, 2018, immediately to allow relief to medical fraternity and others affected”.