Business owners in all 42 wards of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation will be able to file for new trade licences as well as renew their existing ones online.
A senior official of the civic body’s headquarters at Poura Bhavan said that the applications can be made online by visiting the website —www.bmcwbgov.in— and the payment of trade licence fees will be accepted online as well.
The move to issue trade licence through an online process has been started in a bid to boost the civic body's cash flow, the official added.
Although deemed a corporation, the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation's earnings are far less compared to the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and it relies heavily on doles and grants for its day-to-day operations as well as infrastructure development and repairs.
The cash-strapped civic body had asked for a dole of more than Rs 125 crore from the state government but, according to civic officials, the request has been turned down. The state finance department has reportedly refused to release the funds at one go and has agreed to send in money only in smaller tranches depending on the scale of work.
This particular request had been made by the civic body to repair the crumbling road network of Salt Lake that has not seen any extensive repairs barring patchwork repairs in seven years.
According to the official, the civic body has been earning very little in terms of trade licence fees and allowing people to apply online is aimed at boosting revenue as well as to make the process hassle-free.
“Earlier, people would have to visit the corporation to apply for trade licences, carrying the required documents. They would then have to go to a bank and make the payment. This was proving to be a hassle for business owners and we have shifted the process online for ease of doing business,” said a senior civic official.
According to the official, since its launch 162 fresh trade licence applications have been filed online. Traders and business owners will be able to make the payment of the licencing fee through the civic body's website itself.
Once the payment is complete and the documents uploaded, the licence will be generated within the next seven working days.
Write to saltlake@abp.in