Protest Against Tax Imposition in Transport Nagar Demanded by Traders

Haldwani: Traders of Transport Nagar have strongly opposed the plan of the Municipal Corporation to impose tax on their businesses. They have demanded that before levying any tax, the Corporation should reconsider the decision and hold discussions with all traders to seek their consensus. BJP leader and former councilor Jaspal Kohli, BJP leader Kundan Singh Bisht, and office bearers of the Devbhumi Transport Federation have unitedly raised this demand.

Transport Nagar consists of approximately 33 acres of land where around 875 shopkeepers operate their businesses in various blocks allotted under the Transport Nagar project. This land is registered with ownership rights, and the Transport Nagar is a no-profit-no-loss organization managed by a supervisory committee headed by the District Magistrate. Established in 1996, the purpose of Transport Nagar was to reduce congestion caused by heavy vehicles in the city by relocating transport operators to a designated area.

According to Harjit Singh Chaddha, state spokesperson of the federation, traders already pay a No Objection Certificate (NOC) fee of about ₹6,350 per square meter, which is nearly 15% of the registry value. If the Municipal Corporation imposes an additional tax, it will create a significant financial burden for the traders. Therefore, they have demanded a reconsideration of the tax rates and a formal meeting with all stakeholders.

The traders have warned that until the Corporation improves facilities and consults them on tax matters, they will resist paying any new taxes. A delegation from the Devbhumi Transport Federation is scheduled to meet the Mayor of Haldwani soon to discuss relief measures for transport businessmen.

Present at the meeting supporting traders’ demands were Naveen Melkani, Umesh Chandra Pandey, Harish Sanwal, Rohit Routela, Aftab Hussain, Kishan Koshyari, Bhaskar Joshi, Brijesh Tiwari, among others.