RATES TO BOOK COMMUNITY HALLS IN E DELHI WILL BE HIKED

NEWDELHI: Booking a community hall in east Delhi is set to get costlier soon, with the civic body’s standing committee approving a hike in rates on Thursday.

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has 70 community halls, divided into five categories — A to E.

If one has to hire a hall in category A, then (s)he would need to shell out ₹25,600 (including 18% GST, maintenance and tent license fee) now. Earlier, this type of hall could be booked for ₹19,500.

Similarly, for booking of a hall in category B, one needs to spend ₹16,160 instead of the present fee of ₹10,350.

Category C halls will cost ₹11,440 from an earlier fee of ₹6,130; category D halls will cost ₹6,220, instead of ₹4,155; while category E halls will be available for ₹2,750 from the earlier rate of ₹2,385.

These charges would be in addition to the maintenance charges levied by the civic agency.

The EDMC officials said the new rates would come into effect soon as the proposal gets cleared by the House.

The move has come as the cash-strapped civic agency has been finding it difficult to maintain its community centres. “Also, we need to utilise our resources to increase revenue generation. Last time, the booking rates were revised in year 2010, and since then there has been major increased in electricity, water and maintenance charges. So we need to match these expenses,” said a senior official.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation had already revised the booking rates for community halls in 2015, said the official.

Out the 70 community halls, the civic agency has decided to lease out 10 to private concessionaire on monthly licensing fee. “These are the halls which are located at the prime locations, well maintained and have been fetching us maximum revenue. We will lease them to concessionaire for running catering services in addition to booking halls at higher amount,” said the official further.