Vasco: Goa State Industries Association chief has expressed his dismay over the heavy charges levied by the outstation auditors appointed by the department of Factories and Boilers.
Damodar Kochkar, president of GSAI has came down heavily on the Factories and Boilers Department alleging that auditors appointed from other states charge exorbitant fees, as much as Rs 2 lakh, in the name of audit.
Kochkar further mentioned that there has been a 30 percent hike in the renewal fees of the industry here despite pandemic whereas in rest of the states minimal renewal fees are charged or in some cases it is done for free.
“Factories and boilers department who are mandated by Central Government are demanding audits on different aspects. Worse still is the fact that the department has nominated their own auditors and the industries are forced to go to them and pay whatever charges levied by them,” he said.
Kochkar informed that the auditors are from Pune, Maharashtra and they charge a whopping amount of Rs 2 lakh to come to Goa for a half day job. We met the minister and secretary of Factories and Boilers and conveyed to them to get the issue cleared because these audits have become an excuse. They have now appointed 5 people and only they can give us stability certificates.
“When we are erecting a structure we already have a structural engineer and architect who have give us a stability certificate and yet we have to approach this set of 5 people for certificates, who in turn give us their bills. There is nothing on online portal and there is no ease of doing business,” Kochkar added.
