Delhi municipality to seal Mother Dairy, Delhi Milk Scheme outlets over outstanding dues

South Delhi Municipal Corporation officials said that more than 3,000 outlets of Mother Dairy, Safal and Delhi Milk Scheme haven’t cleared their dues and will be sealed.

The capital could be staring at a milk crisis as after two years of deliberation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is all set to seal Mother Dairy and Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) outlets to recover its outstanding dues worth over Rs 110 crores.

SDMC officials said nearly 3,000 outlets of Mother Dairy, Safal and DMS have not paid licence dues to the civic body, which had issued two notices to these companies in 2014 for recovery of the amount. Despite negotiations that lasted for nearly two years, the companies failed to clear the dues. The two companies in March and June this year had assured that they will make payments, but this was never done, said officials.

A decision to seal these outlets was taken by SDMC Commissioner in a meeting on August 8.

“The SDMC must take sealing action against Mother Dairy immediately. To start with, two booths in each of the four zones will be sealed,” a senior official told Mail Today.

Closure of outlets may lead to crisis of dairy products in Delhi. State-owned Mother Dairy and DMS collectively cater to nearly half the total milk consumption every day.

MOTHER DAIRY, DMS SUPPLY NEARLY HALF THE MILK CONSUMED BY DELHI

While the daily milk consumption in Delhi is nearly 70 lakh litres; Mother Dairy and DMS supply nearly 32 lakh litres of milk. The other major supplier is Amul while a number of other small companies like Paras, Parag and Param are also present in the city. Amul supplies nearly 20 lakh litres of pouched milk daily.

Two state-owned milk suppliers were allotted space by the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at a nominal rate of Rs 10 per month. However, in 2011, a year before its trifurcation, the MCD had passed a resolution in its House meeting that decided to enhance the licence fee to Rs 1,000 per year. However, this increase in fee was not adhered to by the two companies.

LICENSE FEE INCREASED AFTER MOTHER DAIRY AND DMS BECAME COMMERCIALISED

A senior official said the decision to increase the license fee was taken after the Mother Dairy and DMS were found involved in commercial activities along the lines of private players. “The prime objective of Mother Dairy and Delhi Milk Scheme was supplying wholesome milk to the citizen of Delhi at reasonable price as well as to provide remunerative prices to the milk producers. However, over the years these companies began commercial activities by selling non-agro and dairy products like aerated drinks and ice creams among others,” he added.

Another official said the retail outlets of private companies have to pay the licence fee as per the existing market rates but comparatively these milk distributors have to pay negligible charges.

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