The Delhi High Court recently disposed of a plea seeking refund of conversion and parking charges collected by municipal corporations in the capital while asking respondent authorities to treat the petition as a representation.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was seized of a petition filed by an association of manufacturers and traders in Delhi.
Filed by Padam Nagar Bagh Kare Khan Manufacturers and Traders Association, through Advocate Gagan Gandhi, the plea assails a notification dated 29.06.2018 by way of which the owner or user of the premises under mixed use is liable to pay one-time conversion charges on mixed use or commercial streets, instead of payment of Annual Mixed Use Charges as required earlier.
The plea contended that under the impugned notification, the funds collected in the form of conversion and parking charges are being diverted for payment of salaries and establishment expenses, rather than the same being spent for the purpose for which these charges were levied, i.e. for providing parking facilities, augmenting infrastructural facilities, etc.
In addition, the plea contended that the members of the petitioner association would be unable to make one-time payment due to loss in business caused by the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
The Bench, while disposing of the instant petition, asked the concerned authorities to treat the petition as a representation and decide the same in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of three weeks, keeping in mind the fact that a large number of manufacturers and traders may not be in a position to offer a one-time lump sum payment due to losses suffered in business on account of the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
Liberty was, however, reserved with the petitioner association to take recourse to available remedies in case it is aggrieved by the decision taken by the concerned authorities.
Order-25-11-2021-Conversion