The Chennai Corporation restricted the number of shops that can be licensed to an individual in shopping complexes owned by the civic body to just one.
This is ahead of the auction of 87 shops will be held on June 14 in Ripon Buildings, after a delay of some months.
The civic body had found that most of the shops have been cornered by a few persons. The rent ranges from Rs.10 to Rs.50 per sq ft but this is often determined by a syndicate of some individuals who prevent those who are willing to pay more from participating in the auctions, said officials
“We will ensure that the shops are not cornered by one person. One person cannot apply for more than one shop in our shopping complexes. If a shop is allotted to a person who already has one, he will have to surrender one of them,” said a senior official of Chennai Corporation.
The civic body owns 113 shopping complexes in which are located 5,811 shops in various parts of the city. The licence period of the shops is for one year, during which the licensee should pay a monthly fee to the civic body by the 5 of every month. The civic body will also give a preference to persons with disability in the auction. Shops on the ground floor will be allotted for such persons.
Persons belonging to the weaker sections and persons with disability are likely to emerge beneficiaries of the new system towards more transparency in the auction. The licensee will have to pay Rs.10 as penalty per day for failure to pay rent before 5 of every month.
In recent times, there have been many cases of default on payments and shops being locked up.
