Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: Traders in the city, already discontented with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s move to impose user charges for garbage collection, now face an additional setback due to raised health and general trade licensing fees. MCD notified a 15% hike in licensing fees from April 1, with the additional amounts to be paid ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 75,000 according to trade activities.
In a letter to the mayor and other officials, the traders accused MCD of attempting to make up for its monetary shortfalls by imposing financial burdens on residents. In response, the civic body stated that a 15% increase in health trade licensing fees every three years was clearly outlined in the revised regulations of 2022.
In the 2022 order, the licence fee for a five-star hotel was fixed at Rs 5 lakh. It has been revised to Rs 5.75 lakh. For a banquet hall with more than 250 seats, the fee was Rs 25,000 in 2022 and Rs 28,750 now. For a food court seating up to 100 people, the fee has gone up Rs 40,000 to 46,000, while for a food court with more than 100 seats it has risen from Rs 80,000 to Rs 92,000. Similarly, the Rs 10,000 paid by an eating house seating up to 20 has gone up to Rs 11,500 and the Rs 20,000 for a restaurant up to 50 seats to Rs 23,000.
“Prior to 2022, the health trade licence fees in the erstwhile North Delhi Municipal Corporation were very low, just Rs 500 for a five-star hotel and hadn’t been changed for 21 years,” said a civic official. “To bridge the gap and make rates uniform across the city, we revised the fee structure that year. The order also prescribed a 15% increase after three years.”
Irate traders felt the decision was an additional burden on them. “To be able to run a small shop, we are forced to pay multiple fees to MCD, including user charges, licence fee, conversion and parking charges, outdoor advertising fee and finally, property tax,” said Nitin Gupta, president, Kamla Nagar Traders’ Association. “In fact, the MCD system is not accepting property tax unless we pay the user charges. How do they expect the traders to survive with such a big financial burden?”
As far as the hike in trade licence fee is concerned, for an outlet of up to 10 square metres, the general trade licence fee was Rs 3,968 in A and B categories in 2022, and Rs 2,645 in C and D categories. Now, this will be Rs 4,563 in the former categories and Rs 3,042 in the latter. For 10-20 sqm shops, the fee in 2022 was Rs 9,919 for A and B categories and Rs 6,613 for C and D. These have gone up to Rs 11,407 for A and B categories and Rs 7,605 in C and D levels.
Mayank Rawat
