Ambazari pool: Swimmers oppose extra charge, operator says will sort out

Nagpur: Swimmers going to NIT”s Ambazari pool have accused the private operator Midland Sports and Wellness Pvt Ltd of increasing the tariff against the tender norms on the pretext of registration charge on every renewal of yearly/monthly membership.
NIT Swimming Pool Members’ Association said so far they had to pay only a one-time registration fee but recently the operator started levying it without giving due notice or consultation. This move, it said, has hiked the annual fee by around Rs 850 from Rs 3,600 to Rs 4,484.
They said though a hike has been enforced, the operator is not providing any additional facility. NIT executive engineer DR Gaur referred the queries to private operator saying all powers now vest with the company and the civic agency could not interfere in maintenance or any other issue at the pool.
Association president Manmohan Bajpai said as per the company’s agreement with NIT, it could raise charges by 8% to 10% but only after following due procedure. “Every month an additional amount of Rs 200+18% GST is being levied in the name of registration which is actually meant to be one time. The operator says those having valid cards will not have to pay registration charge. On Sunday, a member was charged additional fee,” Bajpai said.
He added this was nothing but tariff hike through backdoor. The company director Savithav Nair agreed registration charge was a bone of contention and said it will be sorted out during a meeting with the pool users on Thursday.
Nair ruled out any tarrif hike as it would amount to breach of terms and condition of its contract with NIT. The director also said the revenue sharing model has changed from January and they can’t afford to leave users unhappy.
“They had called me and wanted to discuss the issue. Whatever problems they are facing, we can sit across the table and sort out. We have not hiked the charges. We are continuing with whatever charge NIT recommended. The issue is one-time registration charge. We need to check if NIT was waiving off or levying it on expired memberships,” he said.
“We have been operating the pool for the last 20 years. But now the style of operation has changed. Earlier, NIT was paying us for the upkeep while now we are paying the civic agency,” he said.