Chandigarh MC approves up to ₹3,000 hike in community centre booking fee

Hindustan Times

6 days ago

After repeatedly deferring the agenda in the past four meetings, the General House of the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on Tuesday approved a proposal to revise booking charges for all community centres across the city, but only after significantly trimming down the hike initially suggested by the civic body. The final booking charges, as approved by the House, were agreed by the councillors to get implemented from August 4, this year. (HT photo for representation)
Instead of the three-fold increase proposed by the MC, councillors across party lines agreed on a nominal hike of ₹1,000 to ₹3,000 – depending on the category of the facility– in the booking fee.
Under the revised rates, bookings for Category A community centres will cost ₹3,000 more, Category B ₹2,000 more, and Category C ₹1,000 more per booking. These categories are based on the facilities available at each centre.
The civic body had initially recommended a sharp hike: increasing Category A rates from the current ₹24,000– ₹48,000 to a flat ₹60,000; Category B from ₹13,000– ₹24,000 to ₹40,000; and Category C from ₹5,000– ₹22,000 to ₹15,000– ₹30,000. However, councillors pushed back against the steep escalation.
'MC is already increasing booking rates by 10% every year. A sudden, massive jump would not be justified,' said Congress councillor Sachin Galav, who proposed a cap of ₹3,000 on the hike. His proposal was unanimously accepted by the House, with support from councillors across party lines.
The final booking charges, as approved by the House, were agreed by the councillors to get implemented from August 4, this year.
More beneficiaries added to free booking list
The House also expanded the scope of free-of-cost bookings. As per the existing policy, families living below the poverty line (BPL) are already entitled to free bookings for weddings, provided their application is verified and recommended by their area councillor. Medical camps, blood donation drives, government events, RWA meetings, and events held by senior citizens' and pensioners' associations were also exempted from charges.
To this list, councillors added new categories. AAP councillor Anju Katthyal demanded that families of martyrs be granted free use of the facilities for memorial events. Congress councillor Taruna Mehta requested exemptions for weddings of girls from families receiving direct benefit transfers (DBT).
Both suggestions were accepted, and the House passed the revised proposal including DBT beneficiaries and families of martyrs as eligible for free bookings.
However, for memorial and prayer meetings like rasam pagdi and kriya bhog, which were earlier entirely free, residents will have to pay 25% of the booking fee.
Councillor-recommended bookings capped at 20
With councillors raising further suggestions for waivers, including for economically weaker sections (EWS), vendors, labourers, and families with a single girl child, MC commissioner Amit Kumar agreed to allow each councillor to recommend up to 20 free bookings annually, based on verification of the applicant's eligibility.
'Earlier, there was no capping on the number of free bookings being recommended by councillors. In some cases, the recommendations were around 30-40 bookings per councillor every year. This will now cap the maximum free of cost bookings in the centres, and will help the financially strapped MC to generate more revenue,' said MC officials.
This comes in the backdrop of an alleged ₹100-crore community centre booking scam, which the UT's vigilance department is probing. EWS families are entitled for exemption-based booking on the area councillor's recommendation, however, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors had alleged there was a nexus of middlemen, who with the help of fake councillor endorsements and municipal staff, were manipulating the booking process to illegally charge poor families between ₹26,000 and ₹55,000 per booking.