UP govt defers lease, water charges of commercial, industrial establishments for three months

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday said it has decided to postpone recovery of water or sewer charges and lease rent charges of industrial, commercial and institutional

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday said it has decided to postpone recovery of water or sewer charges and lease rent charges of industrial, commercial and institutional premises for three months amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The move comes after the Noida Entrepreneur Association (NEA) demanded relief as their operations have been shut due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of Sars-Cov-2. The NEA -- a body of around 10,000 industrial unit owners -- however is not happy with the decision as they had demanded a complete waiver of such charges for the period during which their operations were shut due to the pandemic.

HT Image

After the NEA’s initial letter, the UP government had formed a committee headed by the Noida authority additional chief executive officer. The committee decided that the payment of lease rent and water charges shall be postponed from March 21, 2020 to June 30, 2020, in view of the lockdown.

“However, the postponement of lease rent and water charges will be effective only if the industrial, commercial and institutional businessman pays their respective dues by June 30, 2020. If they are not able to pay up by that date then the respective authority will impose an interest on the allottee,” said the order.

According to rules, the industrial, institutional and industrial allottees have to pay 2.5% of the total plot cost as lease rent annually or they can choose to pay monthly. Similarly, they can pay water charges monthly to the authority and if it is delayed then the authority can impose an interest.

The NEA office-bearers, meanwhile, say this move will not benefit them at all.

“The government has already completely shut down operations and we are facing huge financial issues. The government has forced us to pay the salaries of the staff. We had demanded that they not charge lease rent and water charge as we are staying home and not using any of these facilities. Therefore, they should have completely waived it off. How will we arrange funds when our operations are shut and we are facing a funds crisis? We will write again and demand a waiver,” said Vipin Malhan, president of NEA.

When contacted, the Noida authority’s chief executive officer Ritu Maheshwari said, “We have given what was possible.”