Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Thousands of traders in Guwahati have been doing thriving business without renewing their respective trade licences. Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has taken up the issue seriously. A significant crackdown on non-compliant traders is imminent.
According to GMC sources, Guwahati has around 65,000 small and large traders registered with it. Around 42,000 traders have not renewed their trade licences even after their timelines expired. According to rules, the term of a trade licence expires on March 31 every year. The trader has to renew his licence after paying a renewal fee within a month. However, three months have already elapsed, and around 42,000 traders have not yet renewed their trade licences, leading to revenue loss for the civic body.
The civic body has now decided to verify the trade licences of each and every shop under its jurisdiction and take action against the erring traders.
According to sources, the civic body has introduced an online system for renewing trade licences to make the process easier for traders. It has issued reminders to the defaulting traders repeatedly, but to no avail.
This issue is not unique to Guwahati; other cities are also experiencing it. The municipal corporations in Silchar and Dibrugarh, along with other urban civic bodies in urban areas in the state, have also been facing the same problem.
Apart from these, a large number of property holders in Guwahati have not cleared their holding tax for years. The civic body is set to start a massive drive against such tax defaulters. Holding tax is a form of property tax that municipal corporations, boards, etc., collect from property holders for owning and occupying property in their jurisdictions.
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