Corpn temporarily seals 60 shops without trade licenses

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) temporarily sealed 60 shops in Mint Street on Friday, which were functioning without trade licenses. And at least 16 shops at a complex owned by the city Corporation near Nehru stadium were also closed for non-payment of rent for the past three years.

“The city shops should get a trade license from the Corporation. For those who do not have a license, we issued a notice, and they should get it within a week. The shop owners did not apply for it, so a second notice for 24 hours was also provided for them. As they failed to get the license within the given time, the shops are temporarily closed. If the owners get their trade license, the shops will be unsealed,” said a senior official with revenue department, GCC.

Similarly, as many as 16 shops in the Corporation’s shopping complex were closed for not paying rent for the last three years. Several shops have Rs 2 lakh per shop as rent due to the Corporation.

“Nearly Rs 24 lakh rent was not paid by the shop owners at the shopping complex, based on that the action has been taken. We issued notice a month before to pay the rent for 28 shops. Of which, 16 shops failed to make payment, and the remaining shops agreed to pay the rent in installments,” said the official.

If these shop owners agree to pay rent in installments, they should provide an affidavit to the corporation. And the civic body authorities will give permission to operate the shops.