Mumbai: 127 shop owners won't pay plastic ban fine, BMC drags them to court

Over 127 shop owners who refused to pay fine for possessing banned plastic will be prosecuted before the metropolitan magistrate, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has filed cases against them for not complying with the law. The amount of the fine will be decided by the court.

After the plastic ban was implemented across the state from June 23, the Blue Squad of the BMC carried out extensive searches across shops. Till July 17, they have inspected 89,814 shops and establishments across the city.

The squad, consisting of 250 officials from the market, licence, and shops and establishments departments, visited the shops and imposed penalties when they spotted violations of the plastic ban.

Every shop found to have been possessing outlawed plastic bags were fined Rs 5,000, and the civic body filed an investigation report (IR) for their prosecuting.

Nidhi Chaudhary, deputy municipal commissioner (special), said that till July 17, IRs have been filed against 127 shop owners before the court and they will be prosecuted. "The fine amount will be decided by the court," she said.

The BMC has so far seized around 3,036 kg banned plastic and also collected Rs 36.5 lakh in fines from 730 shops.

The shops that refused to pay the fine may have to cough up more than the stipulated Rs 5,000 for the first offence. "

The squad also visited malls and eateries. "We focused on major shops and suppliers instead of the common public," said Chaudhary.

The BMC has set up 24 centres which will continue to collect banned plastic waste. "People can still dispose of the banned plastic," she said.