BMC's proposed fire services fee becomes political hot potato

The simmering issue of a new fire services fee FSF that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has been mulling for some time now has come to a boil as the civic body prepares to push the plan in its monthly general meeting to be held in the first week of May A government official revealed that the fire services competence of Mumbai has 50 per cent deficiency in terms of equipment and BMC can utilise the FSF to upgrade u00a0facilities Representation pic The FSF as prescribed under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act 2006 varies from residential to commercial structures and hotels to nursing homes The baseline suggested by the Act says a civic body with a population of more than 50 lakh in its jurisdiction can levy Rs 5 per metre for a building with apartments and a height of 15 to 24 metres with an upper limit of Rs 30000 The amount will be Rs 7 for a building with a height of 2435 metres with a ceiling of Rs 40000 and Rs 10 for a structure 35 to 45 metres in height with a cap of Rs 60000 Residential towers beyond 45 metres in altitude will pay Rs 15 per metre with Rs 1 lakh as the upper limit Likewise starcategory hotels will have to bear the burden of hefty charges as prescribed by the government For instance a fivestar hotel will pay Rs 20 per metre and a seven star one Rs 25 with ceilings of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 2 lakh respectively However the civic body reserves the right to levy a higher tariff than the one prescribed According to sources from the state government municipal corporations in Maharashtra were expected to create corpora of funds for the fire services by imposing such charges An official expressed surprise at the fact that BMC took so long since the Act had come into existence in 2006 and implementation began in 2008 As a relief to small buildings the government has not prescribed any fee for residential structures up to four floors he said The matter assumes importance as the fire services competence of Mumbai has 50 per cent deficiency in terms of equipment revealed another government official adding that BMC can utilise the FSF to upgrade facilitiesu00a0 Meanwhile the civic bodyrsquos standing committee has rejected the idea of imposing a fire services fee pointing out that BMC is already charging fire tax in its assessment bills and therersquos little sense in levying two tariffs for the same purpose In its May 4 issue last year MiD DAY had pointed out lsquoBMC faces heat over charging fire tax twicersquo that the proposed toll would put a twofold burden on the taxpayer If implemented BMC expects to collect FSF with retrospective effect from December 2008 The proposal was most recently vetoed by the standing committee on February 12 BMC hopes to earn Rs 329 crore annually through this scheme Shiv Sena a ruling party in the corporation has vehemently resisted the FSF Yashodhar Phanse Shiv Sena corporator and leader of the house in BMC said ldquoIf the civic body is already charging 4 per cent lsquofire taxrsquo in its assessment bills as part of general tax then why should citizens again pay for the same cause It would be an additional burden on themrdquo he said BMC has been charging a fire tax since 1936 Phanse also recommended that the FSF should be a onetime charge and should be recovered from the builder lsquoItrsquos differentrsquo A senior government official however said that the FSF is a part of the newlyframed Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act 2006 that cannot be compared with the fire tax and the new rule will be applicable all over the state According to the proposal the rate of taxation will vary from building to building and will be calculated based on the area age and the nature of the building The higher the building the higher the fee and the highest tax will be collected from commercial structures like hotels mercantile centres etc The new fee would be charged while providing commencement certificate to construction and reconstruction of every building Rs 329 cr What BMC expects to earn annually with the fire services feeu00a0