The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Traders threaten to down shutters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 28, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Traders threaten to down shutters

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 27. Traders in the city and elsewhere in the State have threatened to down shutters "as a last resort" if the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's rule, requiring them to get "trade licences" under 44 new categories, was not withdrawn.

A few months ago, the BMP extended the number of categories requiring these licences, under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, from 30 to 74. This now covered almost every trade, the BMP says, including such businesses as dry cleaning and salons.

They have till August 31 to comply by paying fees ranging from Rs. 50 to Rs. 5,000, depending on the size and the nature of the business. Goods identified under the 74 categories range from aerated water to ammunition.

The earlier 30 categories were restricted mostly to food products, requiring a licence from the BMP's Health Department. B.K. Goyal, the chairman of the BMP Trade Licence Action Front, comprising members of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the traders' main lobby told presspersons on Friday that the BMP's trade licence was "completely unnecessary."

"If as the Mayor told us sometime ago, the BMP wants to boost its revenue, it must go after those businessmen who are not registered under any law today," Mr. Goyal said.

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