MUMBAI: Realising the common man may not be able to cough up a steep penalty of Rs 5,000 in case he/she is caught using the banned plastic, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to reduce the penalty to Rs 200. However, this will apply only to the common public, while shopkeepers and manufacturers may still have to cough up Rs 5,000.Ever since the March 23 notification, issued under the Maharashtra Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 2006, banned the manufacture, sale, transport, storage and use of plastic including bags, disposable plastic spoons, forks, cups, glasses, containers and thermocol for decoration, the authorities had said those found using the banned plastic would be penalised Rs 5,000 the first time and Rs10,000 the second time.The ban kicks into effect on June 23. Civic sources said since the penalty of Rs 5,000 is too high they want it to be slashed for the common man.A proposal will be tabled at the BMC law committee’s upcoming meeting. Nidhi Choudhary, deputy municipal commissioner (special), said they understand penalties need to be within the affordable range. Therefore, it is now proposed to levy Rs200 on a first-time defaulter, Rs500 the second time and Rs25,000 the third time. There is also a provision of imprisonment up to three months for a repeat offender.“We have only proposed this from our side. The law committee will take a final call, following which penalties will be imposed from June 23,” she said.However, as far as manufacturers and retailers are concerned, the penalty amount will remain Rs 5,000.BMC, meanwhile, will start training the 249 inspectors of the civic body’s market and licence department who will be deployed to track defaulters. “On Tuesday, we will train the inspectors about whom they should be penalising. These inspectors will be given a jacket stating they belong to ‘ plastic ban squad’ and will also be handed an authorisation letter from the BMC stating they have the authority to penalize defaulters,” said a civic official.