Chairing his final Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) council meeting as Mayor, Divakar on Wednesday relaxed the norms for renewal of trade licence of applicants operating from rented premises and allowed them to produce only the copy of trade licence granted earlier year along with last year’s tax paid receipt. Anybody having problem in producing the tax receipt can submit the application along with an undertaking stating the reason for not submitting it.
Mr. Divakar passed this direction following councillors pointing out at problems faced by traders in getting their licenses renewed.
Member Sudheer Shetty Kannur said officials are asking for a host of documents, including copy of the agreement between landlord and the tenant, khata and tax receipt, which was making renewal of trade licences cussmbersome. Councillor Vinayraj said so far only 1,000 traders have applied for renewal of trade license, which is among the main sources of revenue.
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Councillor Naveen R. D’Souza said ideally renewal should be done immediately after applicant has paid the licene fee and solid waste management cess. “I do not know why health inspectors are dragging their feet,” he said.
Councillor Premanand Shetty said renewal should be done, as in the past, by accepting the copy of the last year’s trade licence copy. “There is no need for the MCC to ask any more documents from the applicant,” he said.
Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar said the civic body is asking the tax paid receipt as it will help in cross verification of property tax payment. “If applicants have any problem in submission of tax receipt, they can submit an undertaking accordingly and submit the application at the health section or to me,” he said added submission of agreement copy and khata has been made optional.
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The Mayor ordered for switching off of the sound system for a while following discussion related to the Karnataka High Court order staying works of Mangaluru Smart City Limited.