KMC contractors seek removal of DG commission after post abolished

Contractors seek lower commission as KMC departments clash over payments

A new dispute has emerged in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation following the release of the first installment of the District Annual Development Program. Contractors have demanded the immediate removal of the commission allocated to the post of Director General after the DG position was abolished.

Reportedly, officials from the Engineering and Finance departments have failed to reach an agreement on how to divide the commission. As a result, contractors have not yet received their payments, and work on development schemes has not begun. Contractors have decided to reduce the commission on District ADP payments from 6 percent to half of that amount.

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has received the first release for the current fiscal year under the District ADP, estimated to be over one billion rupees. However, despite the release, contractors have not been paid, reportedly due to a dispute over the distribution of commissions from the payments. Sources said that the post of Director General in the Engineering Department has been temporarily abolished.

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For provincial ADP schemes, financial advisor Gulzar Abro has been granted DDO (Drawing and Disbursing Officer) powers, while for district ADP schemes, the DDO powers have been assigned to Niaz Hingorja, Director of Finance.

Previously, both ADP schemes’ DDO powers were held by the Director General of Technical Services. According to contractors, when the DG post was active, a commission of six to six-and-a-half percent was charged on District ADP payments.

With the DG position now vacant, contractors are demanding that the DG’s share of the commission be immediately eliminated.

Chairperson of the Karachi Constructors Association, S.M. Naeem Kazmi, said that reducing the commission would improve the quality of development work. He added that since there is currently no DG in the Engineering Department, the six to six-and-a-half percent commission previously collected should be cut in half to three percent.

Kazmi stated that lowering the commission would provide relief to contractors and that reducing commission deductions from development projects would enhance the quality and speed of the city’s progress.