The Hindu      23.12.2010

Vote on Bill relating to property tax for upcoming Rajarhat township put off

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday deferred the passing of a Bill seeking to vest regulatory powers for the imposition of property tax in the hands of the development authority of the upcoming Rajarhat Gopalpur township here, to ensure the sustainability of civic services to its inhabitants.

It was sent to an Assembly standing committee following a request by the one of the Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee.

The request was made through the Speaker, H.A. Halim as Mr. Chatterjee, whose party, the Trinamool Congress, has launched a movement against alleged forcible acquisition of land for the township and the “land scam” surrounding it, was not present in the House along with his other party colleagues. Neither was the Congress.

State Housing Minister Gautam Deb, who has dismissed these allegations, acceded to the request for referring the Bill to the standing committee but not before telling the House that he was doing so out of courtesy and deference to democratic behaviour.

The Bill could have well been passed by the House in the absence of the Opposition but he would rather have it sent to the standing committee out of democratic propriety, he told reporters later.

Regretting that the Opposition had stayed away from proceedings in the House, he wondered whether the Opposition in other States where elections are due next year was bent on stalling the passing of legislations there, as was being done in West Bengal.

The Bill, termed The New Town, Kolkata Development Authority (Second Amendment) Bill, 2010, empowers the authority to, through a resolution, exempt up to 50 per cent property tax on any land or building in the township that belongs to the economically weaker sections of society.

It also states that the development authority may exempt from payment, of a portion of property tax not exceeding 30 per cent of the actual gross amount, on any land or building exclusively used for the Information Technology sector.

Once it comes up, the township, which was recently christened Jyoti Basu Nagar, will span 8,773 acres and have an estimated population of 10 lakhs and a floating population of 5.5 lakhs.

Admitting that there could be some shortcomings given the immensity of the job at hand, Mr. Deb said that the authorities would do what was necessary to rectify any fault that may be pointed out to them.

Times of India      21.12.2010

NEW DELHI: If you are planning to start a new venture – from general store to a five-star hotel - get ready to shell out more as Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is mulling an increase in licensing fee by 10 times. In its budget proposal before the health committee, additional commission (health) has proposed a steep rise in the fee.

According to the proposal, the licensing fee of banquet halls and restaurants with a sitting capacity of more than 50 seats has been increased to Rs 10,000 as against the existing fee of Rs 500. ``If the licensing fee is increased, the renewal fee will also go up. This will make things difficult for people who plan to start a new enterprise,'' said a senior MCD official. Similarly, coffee houses or cafés, cinema halls, clubs, swimming pools etc might have to pay Rs 5000 as the fee.

Till now, the minimum licensing fee charged was Rs 240 – from saloons, small resturants, tea stalls etc - which has been increased to Rs 500. The worst affected would be small-time vendors like ice-cream and water trolley operators as they might have to shell out Rs 1000 to get the licence. At present, these small-time vendors pay just Rs 90 for the licence.

Sources say the cash-strapped MCD is now looking for newer ways of increasing its revenue, after its recent proposal to increase property tax in residential areas was shot down. "MCD is facing a financial crunch and an increase in licensing fee would help the civic agency. There is a proposal to increase toll tax by 15%. If these two proposals are cleared, it will put a lot of pressure on the service and hospitality industry,'' said an MCD official.

The proposal will be tabled in the health committee meeting this week. If approved, it will then be presented to the standing committee. "We have received the additional commissioner's budget proposal. We will consider the hike in different categories. But we don't want to burden the common man unnecessarily, so that hike will be well-balanced. We will soon present the budget to the standing committee,'' said Dr VK Monga, chairman, health committee, MCD.