Ghaziabad civic body asks commercial establishments to obtain trade licence by September

The Ghaziabad municipal corporation has asked about 40 trades -- from nursing homes to hotels and liquor shops -- to obtain a trade licence from the civic body by September 30, 2021

The Ghaziabad municipal corporation has asked about 40 trades -- from nursing homes to hotels and liquor shops -- to obtain a trade licence from the civic body by September 30, 2021.

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Officials said that the provision for obtaining licences was already there under the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, but not fully implemented in the city under the corporation jurisdiction area.

The move is aimed at preventing illegal commercial activities, the officials said, adding that the erring establishments will have to deposit delay charges and penalty and may face legal action in case they continue without licences.

“The issue cropped up in a recent meeting with the members of auto-rickshaw unions. They complained that some people who have formed a nexus were charging parking fee from them when they operate from municipal roads. Then we decided to implement the licence system whose provisions and rates are already in place,” said MS Tanwar, municipal commissioner.

“The provision of licence is also applicable for different categories of auto-rickshaws and once they obtain licence, they will not be required to pay parking fees to any unauthorised people,” Tanwar said.

According to the officials, the annual rates for the licences vary for different categories of commercial activities. For general hotels, lodges and guest houses, the licence fee is ₹1,000, while for three-star and five-star hotels, the fee is ₹9,000 and ₹12,000, respectively. Similarly, the licence fee for different categories of nursing homes and private clinics ranges between ₹2,000 and ₹5,000, while it is ₹4,000 for dental clinics and ₹1,000 for pathology centres.

The officials said that the licence fee of ₹6,000 to ₹12,000 is applicable for different categories of liquor shops, while ₹360 to ₹720 for auto-rickshaws.

“Now, no commercial operation will be allowed without a licence. The licence fees are different from the regular tax structure and mean that such activities can be carried out under the corporation jurisdiction area,” Tanwar said.

Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, corporation’s chief tax assessment officer is entrusted with responsibility of licensing officer. “The licences can be obtained from our five zonal offices. To ascertain exact number of operators, we have also sought information from different departments like transport, excise, and food and drug departments, among others. After September, we will conduct inspections and penalty will be levied on erring establishments,” he added.