29/09/2017
Private security agencies are being hired by almost all the private companies, apartments and gated communities in the city. However, 85 per cent of these agencies do not have the Private Security Agency Regulation Act) (PSARA) license, which is mandatory.
Though this is an important issue concerning safety as the owner of the security agency has no credibility without a license, the State authorities concerned remain indifferent failing to take any action.
Until now, only 10-15 security agencies in the city have received PSARA.“There are approximately 700 security agencies in the city and most of them are run by non-locals, whose agencies are not even registered with the Labour Department.”
Before issuing license to a company, a preliminary report that contains the owner’s history and ID/ address verification should be submitted. Most of the companies are rejected it at the first stage itself but they are still functioning because of the Government’s negligence.
This Act was introduced in the year 2005 to reduce the crime rate and regularise the agencies in the city. However, according to Swamy Reddy, the first license was issued only in January, 2016.
“The issue is that most of the clientele also prefer the security agencies without a license because these companies’ quotations are much cheaper than the credible agencies.” There is a minimum of Rs 4,000 difference per security guard.
This is because we are supposed to register for Employee Insurance and PF (Provident Fund), whereas these unauthorised agencies provide no such benefits for their employees,”
The licensed agencies claimed that many gated communities and apartments were hiring unaccredited security agencies because they were not aware of the PSARA license.
Officials of the department concerned failed to respond to the queries despite several attempts to contact them.
-The Hans India ( Newspaper )
Pioneer Security Services is duly registered under PSARA Act 2005.
