TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The Madgao Gadda Traders association is up in arms over what they termed as near 50 per cent hike in Sopo collection fees demanded by the sopo collector.
The Association has appealed to the gadda traders not to pay heed to the increased sopo, but to pay the fees approved by the Civic body.
A delegation of the Association led by President Prashant Naik called on the Chief Officer and the chairperson of Margao Municipal Council to inquire whether any hike had been permitted by the council in the sopo tax. “Both the Chairperson and the Chief Officer clearly said the Civic body has not effected any hike in the sopo tax. They maintained that the sopo collector is not entitled to increase the tax as per his whims and fancies,” he said.
In a memorandum submitted to the Civic body, the Association has requested the Municipality to take traders into confidence before increasing the sopo tax.
It may be noted that the sopo tax collector unilaterally increased the sopo tax by over 50 per cent and has been collecting the same for the last couple of days. In view of the above, the president of the Gadda Traders Association has appealed to the gadda traders to pay the sopo tax as per the earlier guidelines issued by the MMC and not to pay the increased sopo tax.
