Mumbai: The fine for carrying banned plastic items will remain ₹5,000, despite the administration's effort to reduce the penalty to ₹200. The law committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday sent back the proposal to reduce the fine amount. The State-wide ban on plastic comes into effect from June 23.
Law Committee chairperson Suvarna Karanje said the committee didn’t have the power to reduce fines. “The penalty is governed by a State Act and changes, if any, will have to be done at the government-level.”
Nidhi Choudhary, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special), BMC, said the original proposal was to reduce the amount of fines for consumers, while that for manufacturers, traders and large establishments was to remain at ₹5,000. “The committee sending the proposal back has brought a lot of clarity. The fine now will be ₹5,000 for everyone. The law states that fines could be up to ₹5,000, and we didn’t want any misuse of the same.”
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The first violation will invite a fine of ₹5,000, the second ₹10,000 and a third violation will cost ₹25,000. The Act also provides for imprisonment of three months for repeat offenders.
The BMC administration had proposed fines of ₹200, ₹500 and ₹1,000.