The Deccan Chronicle 21.10.2010
`1cr trade licence scam hits GHMCHyderabad, Oct. 20: A `1 crore scam has come to light in the trade licence section of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Some employees of the corporation have allegedly pocketed the money collected towards renewal of trade licences.
Enquiries revealed that the corporation had prepared a list of commercial establishments that had not renewed their trade licences last year. The licences had to be renewed this year along with payment of arrears and penalty. However, a large number of names were deleted from the list. It is not clear whether the employees had collected the licence fee from all these establishments and pocketed the money, or had sought a bribe in order to delete names from the list.
Officials said the corporation has lost `1 crore in trade licence fees plus arrears and penalty.
The GHMC commissioner, Dr Sameer Sharma, has ordered an inquiry and handed over the case to the vigilance department. Sources say that since collection of trade licence fee is headed by the assistant medical officers of health, the scam could not have been committed without their knowledge.
The scam came to light when the GHMC’s IT wing ran a final check on the trade licence fee collections.
