Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is considering to provide relief to traders in Local Shopping Centers (LSC) who have been subjected to illegal conversion and parking charges by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Kejriwal on Sunday met with the traders of nearly 500 shops that were sealed for non-payment of illegal conversion and parking fees in Local Shopping Centers (LSC).
During the meeting, traders raised the issue of nearly 500 shops that were sealed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for illegal conversion and non-payment of parking charges.
Kejriwal said a solution will be found soon with the traders. He instructed Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, and MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi, to resolve the issue at the earliest.
The CM also assured that a solution would be promptly found for the markets currently undergoing sealing.
According to Bhardwaj, the MCD has been serving notices to the market for conversion and parking charges for a few years, which amounted to lakhs of rupees, and consequently, many shops were sealed.
The Local Shopping Center (LSC) Federation President, Rajesh Goyal, and General Secretary, Vishal Ohri, represented 106 market associations and joined the traders in the meeting today with Kejriwal and Bhardwaj at the CM’s residence in Civil Lines.
The traders apprised them of the problem of the sealing of commercial shops.
LSC Federation President Rajesh Goyal stated that they had bought commercial space that was many times more expensive to avoid doing business from home.
They were first charged a hefty conversion fee, and even after the BJP promised that the conversion fee would not have to be paid by commercial shops, the battle continued.
LSC Federation General Secretary Vishal Ohri mentioned around 500 shops have been sealed for five years.
He told Kejriwal that with the cooperation of MCD, their shops can be opened. Due to the previous BJP government in the MCD, traders suffered a loss of Rs 5,000 crore.
After hearing the traders’ concerns, Kejriwal assured them that a decision would be taken within a few days. He stated that for several years, over 500 shops belonging to these businessmen had been sealed.
He instructed Bhardwaj and Dr Oberoi to solve the problems of all the traders at the earliest. He also said that a solution will also be found for the ongoing sealing of markets in due time, and it will be ensured that their shops can obtain legal status by paying reasonable prices.
Bhardwaj added that there are big markets in Delhi, including the ones in Greater Kailash, South Ex, Defence Colony, Kirti Nagar, Green Park, Priya Cinema Market, etc. These are called Local Shopping Centers (LSC) in Delhi.
A few years back, the MCD started serving notices to the market for conversion and parking charges that ran into lakhs of rupees. It was not easy for any shopkeeper to give such a substantial amount of money.
Due to those notices, MCD sealed the operational shops, and many shopkeepers were seen crying in the videos and pictures that surfaced in 2018. MCD illegally sealed the market by bullying the traders. Even today, most of the shops in Defence Colony are sealed. Around 500 shops have been sealed by MCD all over Delhi.
This decision will bring relief to the traders of Local Shopping Centers (LSC) in Delhi, who have suffered a significant financial loss due to the sealing of their shops.
The government is committed to resolving this issue at the earliest, and the traders will be notified of the solution soon.
Traders informed Kejriwal that the MCD and the Delhi government have suffered a loss of about Rs five thousand crore due to the sealing. The MCD did not earn any house tax from the sealed shops. While MCD managed to recover Rs 80 crore out of Rs 120 crore, thousands of crores of revenue has been lost by the civic agency.
Sharing details about the meeting, Kejriwal tweeted, “For the last several years, more than 500 shops of all these traders have been sealed; I have instructed UD Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi to solve the problems of all these traders as soon as possible.”
While, Bhardwaj tweeted, “Got directions from CM Arvind Kejriwal to resolve the issue of sealing in Local Shopping Centres like Def Col Mkt, GK1 and 2 Mkt, South Extension, Green Park, Vasant Lok Priya, Kirti Nagar , Meharchand Mkt. Soon we will start working on de-sealing of 500+ shops in LSCs.”