Chandigarh admn officials to meet business reps today over steep hike in penalty on building violations

The UT administration will hold a meeting with members of the Chandigarh Coordination Committee, an umbrella group for 27 organisations, on Wednesday to hold further discussions on proposed amendments in the Capital of Punjab (development and regulation), Act, 1952

The UT administration will hold a meeting with members of the Chandigarh Coordination Committee, an umbrella group for 27 organisations, on Wednesday to hold further discussions on proposed amendments in the Capital of Punjab (development and regulation), Act, 1952.

The business representatives, in their objections which was submitted to UT administration on Monday, stated that proposed increase of penalty from ₹500 to ₹2 lakh is exorbitantly high. (HT File)

Chander Verma, convener, Chandigarh Coordination Committee and president, Chandigarh Business Council, said that deputy commissioner will meet representatives of different associations at UT guest house on Wednesday to discuss the issue. “We are thankful to the UT administration for accepting our two key demands including a meeting with senior UT officials and extending objection filing date,” he said.

The committee was formed to oppose UT’s proposal of increasing the penalty on building violations and misuse of premises from ₹500 to ₹2 lakh. Earlier, the date of filing objections had been extended to May 6.

The members, in their objections, which was submitted to UT administration on Monday, stated that proposed increase of penalty from ₹500 in the original act to be increased to up to ₹2 lakh followed by ₹8,000 per day is exorbitantly high and will prove fatal to the business community who have already suffered huge financial losses during the more than two years of Covid-19.

They had also submitted that the concept of annual increase of 5% is completely unwarranted, since penalty should not be considered as revenue earning exercise like water tariff, electricity charges etc.