Hyderabad, August 16 : Architecture students of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University have taken up the task of preparing a comprehensive inventory of commercial establishments along with the size of neon and glow sign advertisement boards displayed on shops in the city.
The inventory covers counting the number of commercial establishments, taking photographs of the shops and showrooms, measuring the area, describing the nature of trade and business activity, compiling door numbers shop-wise, and also measuring the size of the advertisements.
Based on the details in the inventory, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation will levy trade licence fee and advertisement tax on the traders. The inventory will serve as a long-term guide book for tax assessment and other purposes.
“We requested the JNTU authorities and they agreed to let 60 students to do the job. It is being done as part of their course project. The GHMC will pay them honorarium and also give project completion certificates,” said the GHMC commissioner, Mr M.T. Krishna Babu.
The students have been divided into different groups and each group is headed by expert surveyors appointed by the civic body. The JNTU students will also prepare a list of trades and business establishments that are presently outside the ambit of trade licence fee.
Earlier traders had gone to court against the municipal corporation for appointing two private agencies to collect advertisements tax on neon and glow sign boards. The two agencies were accused of levying advertisement tax indiscriminately. Later, the High Court asked that all advertisement tax shall be collected on the bills and receipts of the GHMC.
The GHMC additional commissioner, Mr Sk Aleem Basha, said the municipal corporation does not have data on number of commercial establishments and advertisements on them in the city.
The inventory, a first of its kind, will be updated regularly.