Noida traders urge UP CM for fixed electricity charge waiver on lines of Gujarat

NOIDA: Hit hard by COVID-19, traders from Noida's Sector 18 market, one of the biggest revenue earners in Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to waive their fixed electricity charge for a period of one year.

The Sector 18 market association in a letter to Adityanath cited similar support given to the traders in Gujarat by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

"As we all know that businesses are running in heavy losses since the first wave of COVID-19 from March 2020. A long lockdown was held in the first phase of the pandemic and now again in the second wave all markets were closed," Market Association president Sushil Kumar Jain stated in the letter.

"We from Sector 18 Market Association, Noida request to waive off fixed charge in electricity bills of commercial establishments, traders hotels, resorts, restaurants and water parks affected by the coronavirus pandemic for one year i.e, from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022," he added.

Jain, also the convenor of the NCR unit of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said the community has to fix operating losses like electricity, water, rents taxes etc and also have to pay salaries to the staff.

"We hope that you will waive the fix charges at least to help the traders as already waived by Chief Minister of Gujarat in a sensitive gesture. We hope the same action will be taken by the UP government," he added.