Traders in the Roxy cinema building whose shops were sealed last week can reopen their shops if they agree to pay rent according to government stipulated rates and clear all pending dues, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) sealed 13 shops on the ground floor of the Roxy building on December 10. All these shops were running from the building despite being served eviction notices and losing multiple appeals in various fora against the eviction notices, a KMC official said.
On Friday, Hakim said the traders earned their bread from these shops and the KMC would allow them to reopen.
“We have spoken with the traders. They will have to pay the rent as per IGR (inspector general of registration) rates,” he said. “They will also need to clear all dues. They had been paying rent to the person who was illegally holding possession of the place. They will have to clear that due.”
The director of registration and stamp revenue — also called IGR — decides the market value of a property depending on the area. Rents can be decided based on the market value given by IGR.
A trader whose shop has been sealed said they paid rent to a company till March 2020. After that, they did not pay rent to anyone because of an ongoing court case challenging the legality of the shops running from the premises.
The trader, who did not want to be named, said that the KMC has now asked them to clear dues from 2005. “This will be a huge amount. We will plead to the mayor to reconsider the terms,” said the trader.
The traders, who had been running their shops for decades, used to pay Rs 7 per sq ft or Rs 8 sq ft as rent. But the rent as per the IGR value, as proposed by the KMC, would come to about Rs 55 per sq ft, the trader said. “The combined effect of the fresh rate and the dues will be a heavy burden on us.”
A KMC official said that decades ago, the civic body leased out space in the Roxy building to someone who in turn sublet space to others. The lease with the original lessee has ended and the traders who were running their shops till they were sealed had no agreement with the KMC, said an official.