Online licences to run spas, shops, hotels soon

Working on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation will start issuing health trade licences online from Monday.

Apart from reducing time by issuing online health trade licences, the SDMC has also simplified documentation process by reducing number of documents required from 20 to between four and five.

SDMC standing committee chairman Shailendra Singh will dedicate online facility on Monday. According to Mr Singh, Mr Modi’s vision of minimum governance will be put into effect as the corporation will start simplified online licensing process from next week and it will help in implementation and enforcement of the policy. “Traders can obtain these licences immediately from anywhere, even sitting in their homes, by filling an online application. The required licence fee can be paid by credit card, debit card or by online banking. Thousands of traders will benefit from this and they will be able to run their businesses with valid licences,” said Mr Singh.

Through the online system, the SDMC plans to issue health trade licences in quickest possible time. “Currently for issuing licences, our health department takes a minimum of two months, but from the next week, a licence will be issued in one day. In order to streamline the record of health trade licences and to ensure transparency, all the applicants for the new health trade licences will get electronically-generated licences under the DMC Act only after submission of complete application along with requisite documents,” added Mr Singh.

As per the DMC Act, health department of the civic body grants licences to the traders for eating houses, restaurants, dhabas, tea shops, coffee shops, juice corners, sale of milk and milk products, ice-cream parlours, sweet shops, kirana shops (general store), lodging houses, hotels, motels, swimming pools, amusement parks, gymnasiums, gyms, spas, beauty parlours, wellness centres, health clubs and other similar businesses or trades.

The SDMC has also simplified the documentation process for the health trade licences. “At present, for a health trade licence an applicant has to submit around 18 to 20 documents, but from Monday licences can be obtained by submitting four or five documents,” he said.