Only 50,000 trade licences in this booming city

Despite rampant commercialisation in the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has issued just around 50,000 trade licences, which, RTI activists claim, barely scratches the surface. Though over 70 trades — from paan shops to vegetable shops and IT companies — are covered under the trade licences, the civic body has been unable to bring everyone in its net.

This failure has not just resulted in loss of revenue, but also led to the mushrooming of illegal commercial establishments across the city, say residents and activists.

“The BBMP has not been actively pursuing the issue. As per records of the Commercial Tax Department, there are over six lakh traders/commercial establishments in the city,” said RTI activist S. Amaresh. He alleged that the civic body was wilfully looking the other way when it comes to the proliferation of illegal commercial establishments.

Earlier, the BBMP made attempts to cover more trades and garner revenue by issuing trade licences. It had sought details from the Commercial Tax Department, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to identify commercial establishments that had not applied for a trade licence. BBMP’s Joint Commissioner (Solid Waste Management and Health) Sarfaraz Khan admitted that there still were many establishments that had not applied for a trade licence. “We have data from the other departments. However, we are not able to act on it, owing to staff shortage,” he said.

He claimed that there was a shortage of nearly 85 health inspectors and that the recruitment process to fill the vacant posts would be taken up soon. “Once completed, we will be able to take action against illegal commercial establishments,” he said.

Problems in licence renewal

Many traders, who have been attempting to renew their trade licences, have been encountering problems. The renewal process is touted to be hassle-free, but several traders claim otherwise.

Many said once they applied for renewal, they received objection letters and were asked to submit the sanctioned plan of the building from where they operate, which they said was unnecessary. They also alleged that this would lead to harassment by local BBMP officials.

M.N. Lokesh, Chief Health Officer (Public Health), BBMP, said that to ensure that more traders apply for licence, the civic body had made the process of application for a fresh licence and renewal online. “It is hassle-free and transparent. Traders can even pay the requisite fees online, as we have introduced payment gateways. Traders can generate the challan online and even make the payments,” he said, while adding that he would look into complaints of objection letters being received by traders.