Bhubaneswar, April 26: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has earned a whopping Rs 10.86 crore as fees on trade licence, hoardings, banners, towers, bus shelters, and parking during the last fiscal. This tax collection was Rs 2 crore more than that of the year 2010-11.

The collection of trade licence fees is recommended in Section 554 of the Orissa Municipal Corporation Act, 2003. According to BMC sources, there are about 15,000 traders in the capital. But, the actual numbers would be between 22,000 and 25,000. The corporation had earlier conducted a survey to find out the exact number of traders in the city.

“The revenue generation has been satisfactory this year. In future, we will further streamline the process to collect maximum revenue through trade licence and other fees,” said secretary of the corporation Debashis Mohanty. The fees from advertisements are also a major contributor to the overall collection of taxes. The civic body had granted permission to 40 advertising agencies to install hoardings on private land. Besides, Team Ad Mark, an advertising agency, was given the right to put up hoardings on government land under BMC’s jurisdiction for three years after submitting a bidding amount of Rs 5.40 crore with 20 per cent enhancement every year. The agency has been asked to pay Rs 45 lakh per month in the first year, and Rs 54 lakh and Rs 64.8 lakh in the second and the third years respectively.

The corporation has also decided to intensify its drive against illegal hoardings in the city. The drive, which started at the beginning of this month, will continue till May 10. The civic body has so far brought down more than 1,000 of illegal billboards.

“Buildings that have hoardings but have not deposited the requisite fees to the BMC and illegal roadside structures displaying advertisements will be pulled down,” said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

At its council meeting on Tuesday, the corporation has raised the licence fee for mobile phone towers from Rs 17,500 to Rs 50,000 annually.

However, though the corporation has increased its tax collection, the presence of hoardings in no-hoarding zones of the city has raised many eyebrows. The skyline on major stretches at no-hoarding zones such as Raj Bhavan, AG Square, Rabindra Mandap, 120 Battalion, Master Canteen and PMG Square are now dotted with billboards.

“The city is now flooded with billboards. The civic authorities must continue their drive against illegal hoardings through out the year,” said Rabindra Sahoo, a resident of Rasulgarh.