The Times of India  10.08.2010

Pay rent in 15 days or face action: Vend owners told

CHANDIGARH: Municipal corporation has sent notices to almost all liquor vend owners, coming under its jurisdiction, to either pay rent within 15 days or face stern action. The notices were sent about a week ago. According to official records, about Rs 1 crore are yet to be paid by these vends.

Sources in MC said though the pending sum was assessed to be around Rs 1 crore, authorities were unsure about the exact amount because some of the vendors had not been paying rent for many months and the entire picture was not clear to the civic body. An MC official said, "Earlier, the land on which these vends are situated was with the UT administration, but later, some land, roads, parks were transferred to MC and came under its control. But due to communication gap, civic body was unaware about it and vend owners didn't submit rent to the authorities concerned.

And so, the amount is high." There are around 30 to 35 liquor vends under the direct control of MC. TPS Phoolka, MC joint commissioner, told TOI, "We have sent notices to the errant liquor vends and have given them 15 days to submit the pending amount." Pardeep Chhabra, a senior Congress councillor who had raised the issue in the finance and contract committee meeting, said, "It's shocking that such a huge amount is pending. It is a source of revenue for MC ... violators should be penalised."

The issue had come to light in the finance and contract committee meeting last month, in which officials were asked to compile data on violators and the amount pending.