Businesses in Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) areas may soon be able to renew their trade licences for five years at a time, as the city corporation moves to simplify and digitise the service.
DSCC Administrator Md Abdus Salam said the proposal for five-year renewals has received positive consideration and an official decision will be announced soon.
He made the remarks at a discussion organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in the capital on local business, commerce, law and order, human rights and trade licence services.
Salam said the DSCC was working to make trade licence renewal faster and easier, with plans to allow businesses to complete the process digitally. Arrangements are also being made so that trade licence renewals, holding taxes and other municipal payments can be made from home.
He said the city corporation wanted to work with businesses through cooperation rather than force or harassment.
The administrator also addressed concerns over signboard taxes, saying the actual size of signboards at many large commercial establishments was not properly reflected in tax assessments. He assured businesses that they would not be harassed and said the DSCC would work toward a fair and transparent assessment system.
Traffic congestion, footpath encroachment and illegal hawkers remain among the major challenges facing the capital, Salam said.
He said hawkers and battery-run rickshaws would be brought under registration, with licences issued according to fixed limits. Their identities and activities would be recorded in a digital database.
The DSCC also plans to tackle outstanding trade licence fees and unpaid rents in city corporation markets in coordination with business organisations. Salam called for market-based coordination initiatives involving business associations to help resolve the longstanding issues.
On Old Dhaka’s heritage, he said the DSCC had taken up various programmes to mark the historic area’s 416th anniversary.
“We want to develop Dhaka in such a way that its citizens can proudly regard it as their own city,” he said.
Salam urged business leaders to work with the administration to address traffic congestion, footpath encroachment, extortion and other urban problems.
“Without the active cooperation of the business community, sustainable solutions to these problems are not possible,” he said.
DCCI President Taskin Ahmed chaired the meeting. Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Masud Karim attended as a special guest, while senior officials of the two city corporations, DCCI directors and business leaders were also present.
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