Conversion charges dropped for traders in local markets
NEW DELHI: In a major relief to traders of almost 100 local shopping complexes (LSCS), the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday decided to drop conversion charges, which had to be paid for using the property for purposes other than the prescribed use.
The decision will benefit traders in markets such as Defence Colony, where shops were sealed on the orders of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee in 2017 and 2018 for “land-use violations”.
According to a senior DDA official, there are several LSCS in Delhi where plots had been auctioned at a “premium” and the lease deed had been executed for commercial use. “These LSCS were allowed residential activity for a limited duration. Traders of these markets had made a representation that they should be asked to pay conversion charges as they had bought the land at commercial rates,” said a senior DDA official.
Conversion charges are to be paid for using the property for purposes other than the one prescribed in the deed. According to DDA vice-chairman Tarun Kapoor, “Shops in shop-cumresidential LSCS, which have been allotted land for commercial use, will not have to pay conversion charges. This decision will now be sent to the housing and urban affairs ministry.”
Welcoming the decision, Rajender Malik, president,
Defence Colony market association, said, “We have been saying this since day one that we shouldn’t be asked to pay conversion charges. Finally, a decision has come in our favour.”
In another major decision, DDA did away with the requirement of a certificate from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) for running household industrial units from residential areas. “A household industry with less than 10 workers does not need permission from the labour and industries departments. While amending the rule in 2018, a clause was included that DPCC’S permission will be needed. However, it was decided to remove it,” said a DDA official.
“According to the new proposal, household industrial units with maximum a nine workers and 11 kilowatt power, operating in residential areas, as well as new industrial units of a similar type need not take mandatory statutory clearances from the departments of labour and industries and the DPCC, with the condition that no polluting industrial units will be permitted as household industry,” said a DDA official.
The authority also decided that from now on, institutional plots to hospitals, schools, nursing homes, etc., will be auctioned on a freehold-basis.
In addition, the DDA has approved a proposal to allow amalgamation of two plots up to 200 square metre. “Earlier, amalgamation of plots was allowed for plots up to 64 square metre only,” said a DDA official.