Four civic bodies’ residents to pay users’ fee from April in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 30:

The users’ fee has been implemented for the residents of four municipal corporations — Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Berhampur — with effect from April this year.

With the decision, the users’ fee will be collected from all the houses, apartments, shops, markets, hospitals, schools, colleges, bus stands and railway stations under these four municipal corporations.

The users’ fee has been implemented to increase revenue of the municipal corporations and to provide quality service in sanitation system, said a senior official in Housing & Urban Development department.

The users’ fee will be collected under section 657, 658 and 659 of Municipal Corporation Act 2003, he said.

As per the rules, the users’ fee will be at Rs 30 upto Rs 10,000 under 23 different categories. The prices may go up further if required. The authorities have fixed Rs 30 for the house constructed on less than 500 sqft, Rs 60 for the house built in less than 500-1200 sqft, Rs 100 for 1200-3000 sqft-houses, Rs 150 for the house built in more than 3000 sqft area. The users’ fee will be collected from apartment according to their size of the floor of the house.

Rs 60-400 will be collected from the commercial establishments, shops, dhabas, sweet stalls and coffee houses. If the shop or room will be built in over 1000 sqft area, Rs 5 will be collected per 10 sqft each. The municipal corporations will collect Rs 750 for guest house, Rs 500-1000 for hostel, Rs 750-1000 for un-starred hotel, Rs 1500-4000 for starred hotel, more than Rs 2000 for commercial establishments, banks and government offices. If the building is built in over 1000 sqft area, each 10 sqft will cost Rs 2. For educational institutions including play schools, coaching classes, schools and colleges, the fee has been fixed at Rs 500-1500.

Rs 100 per 100 students have been fixed for schools with the student strength of more than 1000. The fee has been fixed upto Rs 3,000 for clinics, hospitals, labs and Rs 2500 for MSME institutions. Rs 100 will be collected for godowns and cold storages.

More than Rs 500 will be collected for petrol pumps, Rs 150 for AC beauty parlours, Rs 300 for printing press, Rs 150 for street vendors, over Rs 500 for motor vehicle servicing stations, Rs 150 for transport companies, Rs 100-500 for markets, Rs 750 for meat, fish and poultry shops, Rs 2000 for railway stations and bus stands and Rs 5 per seat will be collected in cinema halls and multiplexes.

Notably, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is collecting users’ fee since December 2015 in Odisha capital.