Traders complain high and unfair fee structure; Mayor assures redressal

Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has launched an online facility that will allow traders and merchants to apply and renew Trade Licence on the internet without making rounds to the MCC offices and contacting middlemen. This is part of the Corporation’s digital initiative to achieve transparency and also to collect maximum licence fee.

 At a special meeting held last evening that was attended by representatives of Traders’ Associations at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Hall, Mayor Shivakumar handed over online Trade Licence documents to two traders and symbolically launched the facility.

The Mayor said that traders faced a lot of difficulties earlier in obtaining Trade Licence and also had to depend on middlemen for the process as they hardly found time to visit the MCC offices to obtain the licence. “The new system ensures transparency and the traders can apply or renew the licence from the comforts of their shops and homes. The receipts with digital signatures can be downloaded,” Shivakumar said.

He said that the fee collected for issuance and renewal of Trade Licence was one of the major sources of revenue for the MCC. “Unfortunately, there was reluctance of traders to visit the MCC Offices and this had resulted in loss of revenue. Though MCC had issued Trade Licence to more than 19,000 merchants, only a few had bothered to renew it while many others had not paid for the same,” he said.

Several traders complained that the Trade Licence system followed by the MCC was unscientific and the civic body must desist from levying exorbitant Trade Licence fee. Mysuru Hotel Owners Association President C. Narayanagowda and other traders said that the MCC was levying Rs. 17,000 as Trade Licence fee for properties that paid a licence fee of Rs. 10,000 earlier.

 ‘Unfairly high tax structure’

“Cinema halls, commercial complexes and choultries are being harassed with excessive Trade Licence fees and the fee would be levied based on the location of the businesses. “Instead, the MCC must take into account the categories of electricity supply to that particular property,” traders suggested.

Responding to the demand, Mayor Shivakumar assured that he will call for another meeting to discuss the Trade Licence grievances. “We have been demanding the MCC to revise Trade Licence since the last three years but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. When the Trade Licence fee is decided, the MCC must call the representatives of Traders’ Associations too instead of just officers and Corporators deciding on the fees,” opined B.S. Prashanth, President of Federation of Associations of Mysuru.

MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy said, “The special software developed for online Trade Licence system eliminates the need for middlemen. The new system will streamline the entire process of issuing and renewing Trade Licences. Though there are more than 50,000 commercial establishments across the city, only 19,000 had obtained Trade Licences.”

Deputy Mayor Dr. G. Roopa, Corporators Ashwini Ananthu, former Mayor Ayub Khan, MCC Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraj and others were present.