The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in central Mumbai has held the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner responsible for a deficiency in services at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool in Dadar and directed the civic body to compensate a state-level swimmer who was denied concessional fees.

Advocate Priti Chavan, a state-level swimming medallist, had approached the BMC seeking concessional fees at the civic-run swimming pool as she needed to practise for a national-level competition. Chavan, sharing a copy of the complaint, told mid-day, “I had gone to the office of the facility, on December 16, 2021, to seek a concession in yearly fees as I am a state-level prize-winning swimmer. The concession was an annual fee of R100, which was agreed upon by the pool officials, according to a BMC circular. Due to some medical emergency at the pool office, the fees were not collected that day. After two days, I went to the office again but the staff there asked me to pay the entire amount to which I raised an objection, showing them the BMC circular. I was told that the manager was not there and later asked to come the next day.”