Ludhiana | Delay in renewal of trade licences: Councillors oppose hike in fine

The matter was also highlighted in the meeting held between the Congress councillors and mayor Balkar Sandhu at Ludhiana municipal corporation’s (MC) Zone B office on Tuesday and councillors opposed the move and demanded roll back of the orders

Councillors and industry are up in arms against the recent decision taken by the local bodies department to increase the fine on delayed renewal of trade licences to ₹1,000 and imposing additional penalty of ₹100 per day on the delayed payment.

LMayor Balkar Sandhu addressing the meeting with councillors, opposing recent decision taken by the local bodies department, at Zone B office in Ludhiana on April 05, 2022, (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The matter was also highlighted in the meeting held between the Congress councillors and mayor Balkar Sandhu at municipal corporation’s (MC) Zone B office on Tuesday and councillors demanded roll back of the orders.

The councillors said hefty penalties were also imposed by the local bodies department last year, but the finance and contracts committee (F and CC) of MC had kept the decision on the same pending. The officials said a letter has again been received from the state in this regard and the MC is imposing the penalty on renewal of trade license after March 31.

The councillors rued that earlier a nominal fine was imposed for different categories, but now hefty penalties are being imposed due to which the public will also stop getting the licences issued. They stated that even on Tuesday, the MC was asking for ₹2,000 (including penalty and fine) for a trade licence with actual fee of ₹500.

‘Anti-industry’ move

Meanwhile, the Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association also opposed the move. President of the association, Jaswinder Thukral, slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the same stating that the industry is already facing a crisis and this will further increase the financial burden on the industry. He termed it as an ‘anti-industry’ decision by the state government.

Meanwhile, mayor Balkar Sandhu said the officials have been directed to stop imposing penalties as of now and they have directed the MC officials to put up the letter which has been sent by the local bodies department. “Next decision will be taken after looking into the directions issued by the department,” mayor said.