Udaipur city's Municipal Corporation has taken action against a company that used to offer boat rides to tourists in Pichola and Swaroop Sagar using 15 electric boats. When the firm secured the contract, it failed to fulfill the requirement of depositing the security amount. Consequently, the Municipal Corporation has blacklisted the company, making it ineligible to apply for similar work for the next three years. 

MM Travel Agency, earning Rs 5,78,60,000/- annually from boat operations, didn't deposit the required security amount on time. As a result, the municipal corporation blacklisted the agency for three years and seized the compensation of seven lakhs two thousand rupees. 

What's surprising is that instead of paying the security amount, the agency spent three months exchanging letters. At first, they sent notices to the lawyer handling tenders and later on December 14, they talked about depositing the money as per the conduct rules.

Finally, in a formal letter, they said they want to get all boats approved by the transportation department. The corporation faced a lot of petition letters during the case. Meanwhile, the agency took the matter to the High Court. 

The High Court told the city council to use electric boats due to rising lake pollution. They also said to stop using 64 petrol boats there. The corporation tried to get electric boats six months ago, but the bidding didn't work out twice. 

Around four months ago, five agencies joined in the bidding process. The corporation chose MM Travel, the agency with higher earnings. According to the terms, the agency had to boost revenue by 10% each year. Two boats were meant for Swaroop Sagar, and the rest were supposed to operate in Pichola, as per the agreement.  

Source: Dainik Bhaskar