Indian Express 29.04.2010
Trader-NDMC meet fails, protest to continue
Express News Service Tags : Trader-NDMC meet fails, delhi Posted: Thursday , Apr 29, 2010 at 0125 hrs
New delhi: After repeated complaints from the traders of the New Delhi area over implementation of the new property tax laws based on the Unit Area Method (UAM), the Delhi government on Monday held a conference between the traders and officials of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) at the Delhi Secretariat.NDMC officials said they decided to provide some rebates in property tax to commercial establishments and to senior citizens running such establishments.
Traders, however, maintain that with most of their demands not addressed, they will keep up their protests against the new laws.
The NDMC had come up with the Unit Area Method in 2009 to homogenise tax collections in the areas under its jurisdiction. The agency claimed to have taken up the property tax model adopted by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Traders, however, claim the NDMC has made several changes in the MCD model.
Rajiv Mehra, a shop-owner in Khan Market and president of the Khan Market Traders’ Associations told Newsline that while earlier he was paying Rs 100 per year as property tax, this year he has to pay Rs 15,000.
“The basic complaint, however, is the NDMC values all properties at the same rate. This means a shop in Khanna Market will pay the same amount of tax as Khan Market shop, despite the fact that the Khan Market shop will be earning a lot more,” Mehra said. According to the new laws, each property owner has to pay a flat basic rate of Rs 1,000 per square feet. In MCD areas, the more commercially viable areas pay more than the rest. Another meeting will be held soon.
