BBMP harassing us, whine K'taka SMEs

BANGALORE, INDIA: The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in and around Bangalore filed a complaint with the Karnataka government on Friday against BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) health inspectors for allegedly harassing them.

The industrialists met urban development minister S Suresh Kumar to discuss the issue of providing health trade licence to the industries and demanded the abolition of BBMP’s health tax for manufacturing industries.

“There are industries that have been closed because of the harassment from the health inspectors. If there is a food industry or food trade, let them take the licence from the health inspector, but what is the need for the health trade licence for the manufacturing industries!” asked JR Bangera, president, Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI).



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Chief minister’s advisor for urban development, Ravindra, and the special commissioner of the (BBMP), KR Niranjan also attended the meeting held at Vidhana Soudha.

“We can no longer put up with the constant harassment of the health inspectors. We don't need to pay health tax to the BBMP as we are already paying value-based property tax, excise tax, state insurance, employees’ provident fund, property tax, pollution control board tax and other taxes,” Bangera said.

Later, Bangera told CIOL that the minister has promised to take take necessary actions to amend the health tax.

There are about 1.67 lakh manufacturing units in and around Bangalore, from which it gets about Rs 260-300 crore as tax every year.