Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The municipal corporation has yet to begin the process of collecting licence fees from traders and merchants in the city. As a result, grants received from Central and State Government schemes have reportedly been affected. The issue has also been raised by the Accountant General in Nagpur, prompting the administration to initiate steps towards implementing the fee collection system.
Against this backdrop, traders and merchants from the city met mayor Sameer Rajurkar on Friday. The Mayor said that issuing trade licences is mandatory under government rules and there is no alternative to its implementation. However, he also suggested that the matter should be discussed with the municipal commissioner to arrive at a suitable solution regarding the structure and amount of the fee.
The issue of market licences has remained unresolved in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for the past 10 years. Although several municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including Nagpur, Jalgaon, Akola and Amravati, have already implemented licensing fee systems, repeated attempts in this city have faced strong opposition from traders.
Whenever the civic administration has tried to implement the system, traders have protested strongly, and intervention of senior political leaders has often stalled the process. The issue was previously raised in 2017 and 2019, but was temporarily put on hold.
Mayor’s stand
Mayor Sameer Rajurkar said that collecting licence fees is compulsory as per government regulations. He noted that objections raised by the Accountant General every year result in the city losing access to various government schemes and even Finance Commission funds, which impacts development work. He emphasised that traders must pay the fee, while discussions can be held on its structure and rate with the civic chief and Zilla Vyapari Mahasangh.
Traders’ Stand
Prafull Malani, of Maharashtra Chamber, said, “ The traders’ association and federation has been repeatedly writing to the municipal corporation regarding the issue. Although a temporary stay was earlier granted on the license fee collection, the matter remains unresolved. He added that traders today met the mayor and will soon meet the municipal commissioner for further discussions, followed by a joint meeting with the mayor to find a solution.”
Malani stressed, the traders already bear multiple taxes and charges, and an additional licence fee should not be imposed as a burden.