All 26 banquet halls in Rewari without licence
Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Rewari, March 2
A total of 26 marriage palaces and banquet halls in Rewari are being run illegally, with none having obtained trade licence from the municipal council (MC). Two of these have secured no-objection certificates from the Fire Department, which have expired.
This information has been procured by social activist Saket Dhingra under the RTI Act. The MC has neither information about owners and proprietors of these banquet halls nor any record of commercial tax having been paid.
Sources said the MC had initiated action against banquet halls around two years ago, with many being sealed for not adhering to rules and regulations. These were unsealed after some time reportedly due to political pressure, the sources said.
The MC had put these on notice last year, asking the owners to obtain trade licence for running commercial activity, the sources stated.
None paid heed to the notices, forcing the authorities to issue another notice that no banquet hall was registered with the MC and everyone needed to check the licence before booking these for functions, the sources said.
The MC would not be responsible if action was taken against banquet halls for violating government policy, read the notice, the sources pointed out.
Dhingra asserted that the banquet halls were not only causing revenue loss to the MC by not paying commercial tax, but also risking safety of visitors by not meeting safety norms.
“Every banquet hall needs a solar water heating system, rainwater harvesting system, fire safety equipment, emergency exit and structural safety certificate, but none meets these requirements. A majority do not have proper space for parking though half the space needs to be utilised for this as per policy,” he said.
Manoj Yadav, MC Executive Officer, confirmed that no banquet hall was registered with the civic body. “Notices have been served on banquet halls to obtain trade licence and fulfil other mandatory conditions required as per rules to run commercial activity,” he stated.
