Panda clamping down on customers who haven't paid
A Fingal County Council lorry. Panda took over the collection from the local authority late last year.
PANDA SAYS that customers in Fingal who have not paid their annual charge by February 29 will not have their brown bins lifted until they pay up.
The company is also anxious to move away from the paper tag system it inherited from Fingal County Council when the service was privatised and want to move 'sooner rather than later' to its own electronic tag system although it admits it may take up to six months to achieve that goal.
Answering questions from Cllr Anthony Lavin (FG) and Cllr Darragh Butler ( FF) on Panda's takeover of the service, the council revealed the February 29th deadline. The council quoted the company saying: 'Having worked with the paper tag system in Fingal for the last three months Panda is committed to going fully electronic sooner rather than later to avoid the negative issues associated with paper tags (lost/stolen/counterfeit).
'The only thing stopping the full roll out of the paperless tag is the fact the black and green bins have no chips in them. ' The process of accessing all those bins and fitting tags will take 4-6 months approximately.' Panda said: 'In the meantime we will continue to lift all black bins with paper tags attached and all green bins.
'However, from 29th February anyone who has not paid their service charge will not have their brown bin lifted and when they call Panda to ask why they will be encouraged to pay their 6 or 12 month service charge. 'It was originally our intention to issue annual stickers to customers who paid their service charge and to all waiver customers. There is no longer any need for this to happen and we will explain this to any customer who asks. ' The most important thing is service will not be interrupted for anyone who has paid their service fee.'
- JOHN MANNING
