Finance dept objects, but south corporation cuts misuse charges in 38 markets

NEW DELHI: In a major relief to traders in 38 markets, the south corporation standing committee on Tuesday cleared a proposal to drastically reduce misuse charges for unauthorised constructions. The markets were developed by the land and development office (L&DO) and currently fall under the jurisdiction of the civic body.
The rate reduction is a policy move by the political wing and the finance department had objected to the proposal, said civic officials.

The misuse charges will now be based on “L&DO rates” instead of the currently applicable circle rates, which are multiple times higher. The local shopping centres include those at Sundar Nagar, Defence Colony, central market in Lajpat Nagar, RK Puram (12 markets), Malviya Nagar, Mehar Chand and Andrews Ganj, among others.
“The traders will have to first demolish the illegal structures and get an NOC from the civic body that the property has been restored to its original plan. The reduced charges will be paid before converting the properties from leasehold to freehold,” a senior south corporation official said.
Markets falling in upscale areas will witness the biggest drop in penalty. For Sundar Nagar market, which falls in A category, the charges will drop from approximately Rs 23 lakh to just above Rs 1 lakh. B category markets like Defence Colony, Mehar Chand and RK Puram will witness a fall in penalty from Rs 7.36 lakh to Rs 1 lakh. The penalty in Lajpat Nagar and Malviya Nagar markets, which fall in C category, will slide from Rs 4.8 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.
“For properties that have already been sealed, traders will have to first get their cases cleared from the SC-appointed monitoring committee,” an official added.
Traders, however, are unhappy with the proposal. “The proposal by DDA was also scrapped, so why is the corporation considering such relief measures? Nevertheless, the rates are high and impractical,” said Rajinder Malik, who heads Defence Colony market association.