North Corporation set to collect conversion charges online soon

› So far the collection through conversion charges was poor as very few traders were turning up to pay the amount.

TILAK RAJ KATARIA, standing committee chair, North Corporation

NEW DELHI: The North Delhi Municipal Corporation will soon start online facility of depositing conversion charges to streamline the process of submitting the charges by traders.

The proposal was approved in the House meeting on Saturday and the information technology department has been asked to incorporate the features on the official site of North Corporation within a month.

The conversion charges are paid for running commercial activities on roads notified for mixed and commercial use under the Delhi Master Plan 2021.

“So far the collection through conversion charges was poor as very few traders were turning up to pay the amount despite giving relief in interest and penalty from time to time. However, after the beginning of sealing drive by the municipal corporations on the direction for Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee against the defaulters, the collection has increased,” said Tilak Raj Kataria, standing committee chairman, North Corporation.

Majority of traders were paying money through cheques or in cash, officials said. “For their convenience we have decided to start the system online,” said Jayendra Dabas, who announced the scheme on Saturday during budget presentation for financial year 2018-19.

The civic body has collected ₹76.9 crore as parking and conversion charges from violating shopkeepers in January. Collections for January were nearly six times the average charges collected by the civic body each month in 2017, officials said.