the goan I network
MARGAO
Facing flak over the delay in initiating stern action against business establishments operating without the mandatory licences, Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai said that the civic body would zero in on certain commercial hubs at a time instead of targeting the entire city and ending up in not achieving the desired results.
Chief Officer Siddhivinayak Naik mooted a proposal to adopt the latest technology to cap tax evasion, saying the proposal would be tabled in the ensuing Council meeting.
Addressing the media along with Chief Officer Sidhivinayak Naik, who has initiated a revenue collection drive in three commercial hubs in the city, the MMC chairperson said the civic body will concentrate in and around certain hubs and move on to other establishments after getting the traders to pay the mandatory trade licence fee and the one-month rent to the civic body.
She said the drive initiated by the chief officer has shown that even big time companies and financial institutions
are operating without the trade licence and without paying the one month’s rent to the civic body.
“We have calculated that the civic coffers will be richer by around Rs 2-3 crore if the business establishments at Osia Commercial Complex, Reliance Trade Centre and Rangavi Centre clear the trade tax and the one-month rent,” she said.
When the media sought to know whether corruption is behind the delay in getting the major business players from clearing the trade tax and one month’s rent to the civic body, Babita said the chief officer has been told to streamline the taxation section to meet the requirements.
When the media demanded to know why a big shopping mall at the Osia Commercial Complex has till date not paid the trade licence fee when the operations had commenced last year, Chief Officer Naik showed the file to the media, indicating that the mall is under the scanner of the civic body.
The chief officer told the media that the municipality has no intention to punish or penalise any business establishments, banks and financial institutions, but only request the owners to pay the trade licence fee as per the rules in force.
Naik, however, warned that the municipality will crack a whip against the big time defaulters. “We don’t get the pleasure to initiate action against the business establishments. We want their business to grow, but at the same time, the civic coffers should also grow,” the chief officer added.
Both the chairperson and chief officer made an appeal to the traders to approach the civic body and clear their dues, saying the municipality will go out of the way to resolve their problems.
