PANJIM: With a focus on generating revenue to the Corporation coffers, The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) council on Friday passed a Budget hiking trade and licence fees of big establishments including casinos.
The CCP passed a deficit Budget of Rs 11 crore. The total revenue projected for the year 2020-21 is Rs 66 crore, while the expenditure is at Rs 22 crore.
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City Mayor Uday Madkaikar said that the deficit is basically due to failure on account of State government to reimburse the Corporation towards the salaries paid to the deputation staffers.
The Budget has hiked sanitation fees from Rs 500 to Rs 600 annually, with a decision to even charge the occupants of government quarters, from April 1. It has also hiked the fees for No Objection Certificate for water and power connection from Rs 400 to Rs 500 to domestic consumers and Rs 600 to Rs 1000 for commercial establishments. “We have ensured that there is no additional burden on the citizens. Every decision taken is to generate revenue for CCP without burdening the small shopkeepers and citizens,” Madkaikar told reporters after the meeting.
While the decision on renewing the trade licence of casino offices is yet to be taken, the Budget has hiked the charges from Rs 80,000 to Rs two lakh, annually.
Also, the trade and occupancy fees of spas and big commercial establishments will depend on the total sq meters of area occupied by them for their business. For spas, the licence fee would vary from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh, while for big commercial establishments it is between Rs 9000 and Rs 40,000.
Similarly, the Corporation has hiked the charges for display of electrical signboards by the shopkeepers- for the first five sq mtrs the charges would be Rs 15,000, for five meters to 10 meters; Rs 20,000 would be charged, from 10 meters to 15 meters; Rs 25,000 and from 14 meters to 20 meters it would be charged Rs 30,000.
Also, for correction of birth certificate for Portuguese passport, the fees are hiked from Rs 1500 to Rs 2000, the handcart licence fee is hiked from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000.
