Paying guest (PG) accommodations that host more than 12 people have to obtain a trade license from the BBMP. The Palike will consider them non-residential property and tax will be collected accordingly.
As these PG hostels will be considered on par with commercial buildings, the Palike will categorise them into six zones (A, B, C, D, E and F). A sum of `1.5 to `20 per sqft per month has been fixed depending on the zone the PG comes under.
Taxation and Finance Committee chairman M S Shivaprasad said there are around 3,000 PG hostels in Bangalore, but only 80 of them are registered with the BBMP.
“If they are running the building for commercial purposes, one should obtain a trade license,” he said. “Revenue Department officials will conduct a survey of PG hostels and we will collect the fee as per the zone they come under,” he added.
In this regard, the Council passed a resolution to issue trade licences to all PG hostels.
The Council also approved the decision to consider PG hostels under non-residential property and increase the tax rent as per the zone. The same will be sent to the state government for final approval.
It can be recalled that at the last Council meeting, Yediyur ward councillor N R Ramesh had said PG hostels in Bangalore were making money by charging more from tenants. He had suggested bringing PG hostels under the commercial category for tax purposes.
Medical Grants to be Disbursed
Bangalore: Over 4,000 people waiting for medical grants from the BBMP may finally get some relief soon.
At the BBMP council meeting on Friday, Mayor B S Sathyanarayana directed Commissioner M Lakshminarayana to release `5 crore from his medical grant to dispose more than 4,000 applications pending from the past one-and-a-half years.
He said there are medical practitioners even within the Council. “Doctors and leaders from various parties will discuss and fix the amount to be disbursed for each application,” he said. The Mayor was replying to queries on the delay in clearing applications seeking medical grants.