Tax sops for bed, breakfast scheme takers

To give a boost to the ‘Bed and Breakfast’ scheme of the Central Government, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided not to charge property tax at the commercial rate from the residents. The ‘Bed and Breakfast’ scheme was launched by the government to tide over the shortage of rooms during the Commonwealth Games 2010.

“To encourage residents to take up the ‘bed and breakfast’ scheme we have decided not to charge property tax at the commercial rate. There is immense shortage of rooms for the tourists even now and during Commonwealth Games the demand for rooms will further increase. More residents will come forward to benefit from the scheme now”, said Vijendra Gupta, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the MCD.

The MCD is also planning to carry out a survey to find out areas where all new guesthouses can come up. The MCD Commissioner has been asked by the Standing Committee of the MCD to identify areas where guesthouses can be constructed.

The Committee MCD has also directed the Commissioner to simplify the policy of granting license to the guesthouses in the Capital. Many councillors have alleged that the civic body is still asking for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the applicants before issuing a license.

“The MCD officials are still asking for NOC from the building department before granting a license to the applicant, which is not necessary. The guesthouse policy also needs to be simplified just as the trade license policy”, said Sunil Kakkar, a BJP councillor.

The Standing Committee has also directed the executive wing to come up with a single window policy for granting license to the guesthouses.

The Lt Governor too had given directions to the civic body that NOC was not required from the applicants for obtaining a guesthouse license or a trade license. The civic body is only issuing provisional license to the guesthouse owners rather than regular ones. “We have been issuing provisional license to the applicants according to the norms. NOC from building department is required to get a regular license”, said NK Yadav, Medical Health Officer, MCD. There are a total of 694 guesthouses in the Capital according to MCD’s records. The MCD has not renewed the guesthouse license for the past three years.