Unit-I daily market in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 13: Traders at Unit-I daily market have to wait for hours to pay vending tax to the Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation because of shortage of collection staff.

The traders are supposed to pay their tax at the counter opened by the corporation at the daily market. The vendors need to pay the revenue in the office on every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. However, the vendors have alleged that as only one employee sits at the counter, they are forced to wait for hours to pay the tax.

“Previously, there used to be two or three persons for this purpose. Now, only one employee is in the office. We are sometimes forced to leave our shop and stand in a queue to deposit the tax, which hampers our business,” said Gayadhar Swain, secretary of the Rajdhani Dainik Haat Byabasayi Mahasangha. He also said that because of this problem, the vendors were forced to pay the fine.

Similarly, the vendors have alleged that the office remains closed most of the time, thus adding to their difficulties. “We are forced to stand for hours as the office remains closed during the day. If the office is opened, we would have sufficient time to pay tax,” said vendor Balabhadra Samal. There are 1,400 shops along with 1,000 vendors, at the market. The market was inaugurated on April 11, 1958. The general administration department took over the complex from 1962, which was followed by the corporation taking control on October 10,1984.

As per the rule, any one who fails to deposit the tax on due time, would have to pay a fine of the same amount. On the other hand tax collectors collect tax on daily basis from non-allotees. The daily market, which is one of the busiest markets in the city, attracts more than 20000 visitors everyday. But the market has plethora of problems such as parking, lack of fire safety arrangements and proper waste management.

Parking seems to be the major concern in the market area. One can spot numbers of vehicles parked on the main road creating problems for the commuters. As a result of which illegal parking lots have flourished in the market area. Even the corporation authorities have informed the police department to take actions against the errant persons. One can also see garbage scattered all over the market place.

However, mayor, Ananta Narayan Jena rebuffed these allegations. “There are sufficient employees for tax collection at the market and we are managing things properly,’ said Jena.