BMC to levy charges on food court vendors for seating facility, mall owners say policy defies logic

BMC to charge food courts in malls for using extra seating space, claiming vendors are turning them into restaurants. Charges begin at ₹168 per sq metre per annum.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will levy charges on food courts in the malls for using extra spaces on seating arrangements for the patrons. A circular issued recently by BMC’s executive health officer Dr Daksha Shah claimed that vendors are turning the food courts into restaurants by adding chairs for customers.

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“Now, the area occupied by chairs will be charged at the rate of ₹168 per sq metre per annum under trade service area operation charges (TSAOC) and ₹42/- per sq metre as a security deposit for observance of special conditions with trade refuse charges (TRC),” read the circular.

By definition, a food court is a designated area where customers order food at individual vendor counters, collect their meals, and then find a place to sit in the shared seating area within the court. But a senior official of the health department said food courts are only supposed to be takeaways and not a place where people dine.

“Our officials have found that the food courts are being converted into restaurants. When we approached the owners to pay charges for the extra space being used by them, they told us that mall owners had made communal seating arrangements. But the mall owners say they have no knowledge of chairs being provided by them,” said the officer.

Medical officers of BMC’s public health department have been told to inform mall owners and operators about the policy and ask them to apply for permissions.

The circular also specified that no cooking or preparation of eatables shall be allowed in the designated food court area. It added that drinking water should be provided to the customers. The food court owner will have to submit an indemnity bond, a contractual agreement between two parties, indemnifying BMC and their officers from any risk, damages, safety, loss of life and property, litigations etc. The policy is to be retrospectively implemented from January 1 2024 and fees could be collected by challan through the Citizen Facilitation Center (CFC).

The policy drafting began a year ago after a medical officer on duty served notices to a mall in the eastern suburbs over occupying extra spaces and not paying charges for it. The issue was raised with higher officials. “Even the urban development department has told us to levy such charges,” said a BMC official. The civic body in its circular said the charges for such use of sanctioned designated areas would be similar to that of the charges levied on compulsory open space in front of eating houses.

“The mall owner shall not claim the designated food court area as a habitable commercial area approved by the BMC while submitting the redevelopment proposal in the future. An undertaking to this effect shall be submitted with the application,” said the circular.

A leading mall owner said that this circular defies logic. “These areas are already designated as food courts in plans and the BMC wants to charge for that. We will make an appeal to the municipal commissioner and else move the court.’’