PMC extends Pune cleaning contracts by only three months, to float fresh tenders for all 15 ward offices

Pune, November 4, 2026: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration has extended the performance-based road cleaning contracts by only three months. The standing committee had decided to give the existing contractors a one-year extension, but the administration did not accept it. The municipal commissioner has decided that fresh tenders will be floated within this period for all 15 ward offices in the city, and new contractors will be appointed for the following year.

The decision comes at a time when former corporators have approached the Bombay High Court. They object that existing contracts are being extended without inviting new tenders, and are questioning the legality of granting an extension without competitive bidding.

PMC began a three-month pilot project for cleaning the city's roads and public spaces on August 1. The pilot ended on October 31. Before that, at its meeting on October 30, the standing committee had approved a one-year extension for the existing contractors.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajeet Nair said the administration would complete the new tender process in these three months and then appoint contractors for the year that follows. Under the new arrangement, a separate tender will be issued for each ward office of PMC. Contractors will therefore have to take part in competitive bidding rather than receive a direct extension.

Meanwhile, former Leader of the Opposition Ujjwal Keskar has questioned the administration over changing the standing committee's proposal. He said that once the standing committee approves a proposal, the administration cannot alter it at will, and that the state government's permission is required for such a change.

Complaints of roads not being cleaned properly in many parts of Pune have been coming in repeatedly. Corporators have earlier alleged that contractors were deploying fewer sanitation workers than the stipulated number, which affected the quality of cleaning. Granting a one-year extension directly without new tenders has also raised questions about accountability and transparency.

With the new tenders, PMC is preparing to bring in stricter conditions to monitor contractors' work. Payment will be linked directly to workers' attendance. Under the proposed system, the contractor will receive full payment if sanitation workers' attendance reaches 85 per cent. If attendance falls below 85 per cent, payment will be reduced accordingly. If attendance falls below 70 per cent, action will be taken against the contractor.

The administration has also proposed reducing the supervision fee paid to contractors from the current eight per cent to six per cent. One supervisor will also have to be employed for every 25 to 30 sanitation workers.

Under the new conditions, contractors will have to maintain online attendance records and set up a separate system for redressing complaints. They will be responsible for regular cleaning and deep cleaning of roads, public spaces, places where garbage repeatedly piles up (known as chronic spots) and vacant plots.

Contractors will have to respond to citizens' complaints within three days. If repeated lapses lead to a contract having to be cancelled, the decision will have to be taken within seven days.

With the standing committee's proposal, the commissioner's decision and the challenge in the High Court, the future of Pune's performance-based cleaning contracts is caught in an administrative and legal tussle. The proposed new tender process will decide how the city's roads are cleaned over the next year.