KOCHI: The Kochi Corporation council has decided to revoke its decision to increase the annual licence fee for the shops in the city. Mayor Tony Chammany said that the corporation will revoke its decision at a special council meeting that will be convened soon. “However, we have revised the rates as per the notification issued by the state government. The state has fixed a minimum cess rate. We will convene a meeting with the office-bearers of various associations like the Merchants Union and Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti and fix a reasonable annual licence fee structure,” the Mayor said.At present, the shops in the city, including big-brand shops, are paying only a meagre amount of Rs 250 as annual fee. The standing committee had decided to increase the annual licence fee as part of the steps to overcome the financial crunch being faced by the civic body. The health standing committee has submitted a proposal to revise the annual licence fee on the basis of a slab system. The fee will be calculated on the basis of the volume of business of each shop, the items that they stock in the shops, and the value of the stock. The size of the shop will also be considered.However, the Merchants Union and other associations expressed their opposition to the new slab system. “The prime reason is that the corporation has done it without proper homework and in a totally unscientific manner,” Kerala Merchants union general secretary K A Shaji told Express.He said that the new system will see a steep hike in the annual fee and even small shops will have to pay huge amounts. Big shops will have to pay `1 lakh as per the new system, while for medium-scale shops it will be somewhere around `10,000 and `20,000,” he said.
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