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Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) are losing substantial amounts in social service fees from cremation grounds, burial grounds, auditoriums, community centres, gymnasiums and hospitals due to a lack of transparency in the fee collection and deposit system.
There is no digital booking or payment system for users of these services, further depriving the corporations of revenue. Besides, DSCC and DNCC do not share updated information about their social service centres, causing suffering for service seekers.
Officials of the city corporations said caretakers of the social service centres collect service fees from clients both in cash and through pay orders and hand over the cash to the Social Welfare Officer of the respective zone.
The Accounts Section of the zone is not involved in accounting, record-keeping or auditing of the collections. Moreover, the respective Section Officer deposits the collections in the bank.
The collections include receipts from cremation grounds, burial grounds, auditoriums, community centres and gymnasiums. There is very little internal control over the collection, recording, banking and reporting of these cash transactions.
Recently, DSCC engaged a consulting firm under a contract titled ‘Supporting the Enhancement of Own Source’. The contract was awarded to PSP FinTech Consultants Private Limited in a joint venture with S F Ahmed & Co., Chartered Accountants, and PSP FinTech Consultants (Bangladesh) Private Limited.
The consultants suggested maintaining separate receipts and payments accounts for each service centre. They also recommended giving the centres a facelift to encourage private institutions and individuals to use them.
They said the user fees fixed for the centres are arbitrary and are not linked to market demand or forecasts. The fees also do not indicate whether the cost of providing the services is being partially or fully recovered.
Recently, DSCC decided to initiate departmental proceedings against Assistant Social Welfare Officer Saidur Rahman and caretaker Amresh Mondol Ratan of Gendaria Community Centre.
The allegation is that information on 23 of the 154 events held between 4 December 2025 and 31 March 2026 was not recorded and that the service fees for those events were not deposited and were allegedly embezzled.
Earnings from social services remain low due to unclear accounting. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, DSCC earned Tk2.87 crore from community centres. In 2020-21, it earned Tk2.44 crore, while earnings stood at Tk4.69 crore in 2021-22.
Talking to the Daily Sun, a senior DNCC official said the Accounts Department is not informed about earnings from different sources, including the leasing of bus terminals and cattle markets and community centre hiring charges.
Sheer negligence in sharing information
The DSCC website does not provide updated information about its social service centres. Many of the centres are no longer in operation, but this information has not been updated on the website.
According to the DSCC website, Md Saiful Islam is listed as the caretaker of Segunbagicha Community Centre, while Masudur Rahman is listed as the caretaker of Mugdapara, Paltan, Basabo and Wari Community Centres. However, both said they had left those posts long ago. Masudur Rahman said, “I was caretaker three years ago. I am now the assistant social service officer of Zone-3.”
Saiful Islam said he was no longer the caretaker of Segunbagicha Community Centre and had been posted elsewhere.
He said the Segunbagicha Community Centre was damaged during the July uprising, which led to the toppling of the Awami League government and the flight of its leaders from the country.
When asked about the issue, DNCC Administrator Abdus Salam said, “I have already instructed the officials concerned to adopt a digital booking and payment system so that there is no room for fund embezzlement.”