AAP and BJP lock horns over conversion charges
AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said the BJP-ruled municipal corporations are sending notices to shopkeepers to deposit conversion charges on land-use despite claiming that they been waived for now
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj on Thursday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled municipal corporations are sending notices to shopkeepers to deposit conversion charges on land-use despite claiming that they been waived for now.
He alleged that it is clear that the civic corporations are trying to harass shopkeepers by threatening them with the sealing of shops in case they fail to deposit the conversion fee. “North Delhi Municipal Corporation collected ₹1,007 crore as conversion charges, of which they have used just ₹30 crore for the development of markets. Nobody has any account of the remaining money. Now only ₹1.55 crore is remaining. It is unfortunate that just less than 10% of the money collected is now with the BJP-ruled MCD,” Bharadwaj alleged.
Conversion charge is a one-time fee for using residential complexes for commercial purposes in local markets. Such charges are also collected by civic bodies whenever there is a change in land-use of any particular area.
He further said before the assembly elections last year, the BJP put up posters thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for waiving conversion fee and now they are back to “extorting money” from shopkeepers.
Bharadwaj said the north corporation is serving notices to all shopkeepers which state that every shopkeeper will have to deposit conversion charges before March 31, 2021. “Traders are being threatened that if they do not deposit the requisite amount by March 31, then though the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, their shops will be sealed or penalised,” he said.
Reacting to allegations, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the three municipal corporations have “never announced” any waiver of conversion charges except for some L&DO markets. He said the waiver is not in the hands of municipal corporations as only Delhi Development Authority, which is the land owing agency, is authorised to do so.
“MCDs are issuing notices mostly to those shops whose annual conversion charges are due. Issuing conversion charge notice to shopkeepers is no harassment and if any L&DO property has got the notice, they can wait for a final settlement of their matter. Due to the cash crunch, civic bodies have been forced to use conversion charges fund for issuing salary to employees. So the civic bodies do not have the fund saved separately in any account. Arvind Kejriwal-led government not releasing funds to the municipal corporations has forced the civic bodies to use escrow account funds for paying employee salaries,” Kapoor said.
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.