Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 16:

In a bid to increase revenue, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has targeted to collect Rs 6 crore tax by end of March this year.

The civic body has set the target of Rs 90 crore revenue collection this fiscal. While Rs 40 crore has been collected so far, it is eyeing to reach the target by March tightening the BMC holding tax, trade license fee, users fee, advertisement, parking fee and other fee collections, sources said after a review meeting attended by the BMC tax officers yesterday.

According to reports, the BMC is facing loss in crores as most of shop owners, vendors, hospitals and private offices are operating their business without paying Trade License fee.

As part of tightening the trade license fee rule, the BMC is planning to disconnect power connection in those setups that will fail in paying the trade license fee. The BMC has discussed with CESU in this regard. This will be implemented soon, said a senior official in the BMC.

Around 22,000 hotels, restaurants, hospitals, private offices, commercial establishments, shops and temporary shops are operating their business in Odisha capital, out of which only 10,000 have deposited their trade license fee so far. The civic body has collected around Rs 3 crore towards trade license fee and targeting to collect Rs 6 crore towards it by March end, said Alok Kar, Additional Commissioner, BMC.

In order to make the process of obtaining the trade license hassle free, a weeklong special camp will be held in 12 locations of Bhubaneswar where the businessmen can get their trade license and deposit the amount, he said.