Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Half of March has passed, and after that, the municipal corporation has finalised the policy for sugarcane juice centres (raswantis). Those starting cane juice vending on private property will have to pay Rs 1,945 along with 18% GST. If the set-up is started in public places, the municipal corporation will have to receive the revenue according to the ready reckoner every month. Two years ago, when the municipal corporation adopted this policy, it generated a revenue of Rs 17 lakh within a month.
Since February, the operation of raswantis has been at various places in the city. Previously, the civic administration used to grant permission for the cane juice centre. However, the process of granting such permissions resulted in lower revenue for the municipal treasury. Therefore, the then-Commissioner Abhijit Chaudhary formulated a new policy. Last year, the municipal corporation had not adopted this policy, but this year, a decision was made to continue with Chaudhary's policy.
The fee for a cane juice centre on private property will remain at Rs 1,945 along with 18% GST. For setting up the same at public places, the decision has been made to charge a fee by multiplying the ready reckoner rate with the area size and then applying a 4% fee on the resulting amount. The registration will be carried out by the municipal corporation's zone offices. The process will involve the sanitary inspector, staff members from the zone office, and the Nagarik Mitra Pathak team, as explained the deputy commissioner Rahul Suryawanshi.
Two years ago, smart employees from the municipal corporation's license fee section collected the amount for one month. With this one month, the juice centres were operated for two to three months without any charges. The revenue for the subsequent months did not reach the municipal treasury. This year, if the payments are collected honestly, the municipal corporation is expected to generate a revenue of at least Rs 1 crore.