BANGALORE: Traders in Bangalore have opposed the introduction of the Suvarna Arogya Paravanige (health licence) by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Making their stand public at the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) on Thursday at an interactive session with BBMP Deputy Commissioner U.A. Vasanth Rao, most of the traders said that the new licence would add to their existing burdens.

Terming it a gross injustice to traders, who had already been burdened with professional tax, entry tax, road tax, property tax, S. Ejaz Ahmed Sait, chairman of the civic affairs committee at FKCCI, said the licence should be limited to businesses or trades hazardous to public health or those that affected the environment.

He said the BBMP should defer introduction of trade licence fee for this year until the State Government took a decision on the issue.

B.P. Shashidhar, council member of Peenya Industries Association, said that small-scale industries simply did not have the money to pay the licence fees. "In some instances, we realise that the license fee is more than the property tax we pay," he said. Krishnamurthy, trader in Avenue Road, said that retail shop owners were self-employed and thereby had limited finances. "We cannot keep paying fees for everything we sell," he said.

Many traders alleged corruption on the part of the health inspectors and said that in most cases they had to pay 10 times more for renewal of licences.

The procedures were complicated and take too much time, they said.

Mr. Vasanth Rao assured them that their complaints about harassment would be looked into but the licence was more or less here to stay.

"All trades that have a bearing on public health have been brought under the purview of the licence. The revenue generated out of this system will be invested back into creating more facilities for traders and their shops," he said.

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