It has become evident that the Margao Municipal Council is not aware of the various establishments run in its markets following the survey of the New Market undertaken by its taxation section as many discrepancies came to light during the physical inspection.
In the first place, it became evident that the MMC does not have a proper written record of the number and type of establishments that exist in the New Market as there were blanks in the description of the establishment. The officials have admitted that since those establishments were closed they just asked the neighbours for details and accordingly did the physical survey.
While it was discovered that 203 establishments in the New Market have shutters and are paying rent to the MMC, there are another 68 establishments that have erected shutters and yet continue to pay only sopo to the collector with the MMC receiving no revenue from them except for the amount paid by the sopo collector.
Similarly while 14 establishments were found to have wooden doors and paying rent to the MMC, 35 others were found with wooden doors but paying no sopo and not making any payments to the MMC.
Surprisingly the MMC officials also found 132 establishments not having shutters and paying sopo while there were only 11 establishments functioning in open spaces and paying sopo.
Incidentally sopo fees were paid by people who used to sit in open spaces that had no walls or any structure like a shop. Sixty eight of such people, who used to pay sopo, have since converted their sopo space into shops probably because there is a change of guard.
Most of the people, who had signed the agreements with the MMC for the shops and spaces at New Market, have since died. The premises have now been inherited by their children who are not interested in running the establishments because they have a permanent job with many of them working as government servants.
As a result most of the establishments are either subleased to another party or clandestinely sold without informing the MMC about the new owners or managers of the establishment. In fact the new management has even changed the nature of business and the MMC is not even aware of it. For example many of the erstwhile grocery shops are seen carrying out other business, including clothes and even footwear.
MMC officials admitted that a thorough survey of the market will have to be undertaken to find out whether the original lessee or his or her descendants are continuing with the original business at that premises or whether it has been passed on to somebody else.
According to sources, the premises cannot be sub let nor can they be sold to any third party and identifying parties who have done this could help the MMC in fixing new rent and increasing its revenue manifold if only the work is taken up seriously.
While the taxation section took nearly one month to complete the survey of New Market alone, the survey of Gandhi Market is still to be undertaken and there will be many skeletons coming out of the shops in the Gandhi market with many carrying out business illegally.
