An association of merchants here has announced a 24-hour strike in the town on March 13 to protest against the municipality’s decision to increase trade licence fees and the rent of shops.

Suraj Ghosh, the secretary of the Cooch Behar Zilla Byabsayee Samiti, said on Tuesday that around 5,000 traders in the town would observe the strike. The Cooch Behar municipality is run by the Trinamul Congress.

“We flagged the issues before the civic authorities a number of times. The district administration is also aware of them. However, there has been no change in the situation. That is why we have called the strike,” Ghosh said. Rabindranath Ghosh, the civic chairman, said the municipality had revised certain fees and rents to increase the earnings.

“However, the rates in some other smaller municipalities are higher than what we charge here. The trade body should give a second thought to their decision as the strike would inconvenience thousands of people,” he said.