NDMC hikes trade licence fee by 7% for fiscal 2021-22

In a statement released on Thursday, the NDMC said the maximum hike in licence fee is for five-star hotels, which will now have to shell out ₹65,484 per annum to obtain a licence, instead of the earlier ₹61,200.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has increased the annual fee for renewal of trade licences for fiscal 2021-22 by up to 7%. Senior officials said the new fee will be applicable for restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and sweet shops.

The NDMC made a similar attempt at increasing the licence fee last year as well, but the decision was rolled back. (Reuters)

In a statement released on Thursday, the NDMC said the maximum hike in licence fee is for five-star hotels, which will now have to shell out ₹65,484 per annum to obtain a licence, instead of the earlier ₹61,200.

Generally, the health and trade licence is issued for a period of three to five years, and may be revised after two years, officials said.

The NDMC made a similar attempt at increasing the licence fee last year as well, but the decision was rolled back after the intervention of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who cited the Covid crisis as a reason to not put additional financial burden on traders.

“The new licence fee for 2021-22 will be applicable from April 1. There would not be any increase for small kiosks, stalls, Mother Dairy booths, water trolleys etc. For the rest of the categories, the increase ranges from ₹100 to ₹1,700 annually, except in the case of five-star hotels,” an NDMC official said.

Under the new structure, butchers, fish and poultry traders will have to pay an annual fee of ₹1,284 now, against the earlier fee of ₹1,200.

Guest houses with up to 20 beds will have to pay ₹2,568 instead of the earlier ₹2,400, while those with 21-50 beds will have to pay ₹6,527 instead of ₹6,100. Guest houses having 51-100 beds will have to shell out ₹13,054 now as against ₹12,200 earlier. For guest houses with more than 100 beds, the fee has been hiked from ₹24,500 to ₹26,215.

For cafes with more than 50 seats, the fee has been revised to ₹13,054; earlier, it was capped at ₹12,200.

The NDMC also stated that office canteens, sweet shops, gyms, auditoriums and circuses that were earlier charged a licence fee of ₹1,200, will now have to pay ₹1,284, while movie theatres, dance halls at hotels, clubs and spas will have to pay ₹6,527 as licence fee to the civic agency instead of the earlier ₹6,500.

“The NDMC would process around 200 cases (categories) for health licences this year. Of these cases, there would be no increase in the fee for 25% cases, which cover all small shops, stalls, water trolleys etc,” the NDMC statement read.

It added, “In 40% cases, there would be an increase of ₹400, 30% cases would have increase of ₹900, 2% cases have ₹100 and 1% cases covering five-star hotels etc. would have an increase of ₹4,300 per case per annum.”

In a statement issued by Palika Bazar Association, traders said they had written to the Prime Minister, the chief minister and to their member of Parliament, requesting relief from any tax hike this year. However, no consolation as forthcoming they said.