Chandigarh, March 15

 During the ongoing budget session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha, five Bills were passed today in the House. These include, The Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Haryana Enterprises Promotion (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Haryana Yog Aayog Bill, 2021 and The Haryana Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2021.

 

The Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

            The Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has been passed to amend Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

            Several reasons, briefly explained below, have made it necessary to carry out amendment in the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Act No. 16 of 1994) by way of enacting Haryana Municipal Corporation (First Amendment) Act, 2021. When the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 was enacted, the Faridabad Municipal Corporation was the only Municipal Corporation and the terms "employees of Faridabad Complex Administration" was included and they were made the employees of "Faridabad Corporation".

            Now the number of the Municipal Corporations are eleven in the State of Haryana and a need/necessity has been felt to create an integrated cadre of all the Municipal Corporations, as absence of such provisions at time create problem in optimally distributing resources in manpower across all the Corporations in the State.

            Therefore, there is a necessity to integrate the Cadre of all the employees of Municipal Corporations which are in existence and which are to be created in future. This objective can be achieved by way of amendments in section 67, 419 and 422 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 with retrospective effect from May, 31 1994.

            The Government of India, on the recommendations of the NITI Aayog, has made a suggestion to levy and collect Property Tax based on assessment on the value of the property. So far in Haryana, such practice is not invogue. Further, it has also been proposed by the Central Government that the rates fixed by the Government should be floor rate and the Corporations should have the liberty to levy Property Tax at rates higher than the floor rates.

            The section relating to the assessment and collection of Property Tax in the existing Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 does not mention it to be assessed and collect on the basis of the Capital Value or related parameters. Therefore, there is necessity to introduce such related broad parameters through enabling provision to this effect by amending section 87 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

            There are certain buildings which are used for the purposes other than the permissible purposes in the locations where they are situated. The Property Tax on such buildings are required to be levied on the basis of "actual uses" and not on the "permissible uses" of the building as it is the actual uses which puts pressure on the civic services.

            Though Property Tax is in the nature of tax, having no direct nexus with proportionate services to be provided, yet in practice this tax is utilized by the municipal bodies substantially for providing civic services. Further, it is also necessary to discourage such types of practices of unlawful use as they put excessive pressure on laid services resulting at times in highly deficient services as also inconvenience to the law abiding people.

            Accordingly, there is a requirement to make a legal provision both for clarifying the nature of levy of tax implications and providing for penal provisions by levying tax at increased rates on such properties. Therefore, to achieve the above aspects insertions of section 87D and 87E in the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 are to be made.

            On certain places in the Act, the assessment was done related with "annual value". Now in the changed circumstances even this is to be brought consistent with the "actual value".  To achieve the above aspect amendments in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 89, 132 and sub- section (b) of section 385 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 are to be made.

            To make the Registration of Property very realistic and to be regulated in a better way, provision has been made in procedure laid down by the Revenue Department. Apart from other requirements, No Due Certificate is now required to be obtained from the Municipal bodies. Such provisions do not exist in the existing law. Accordingly enabling provisions to this effect are required to be made by inserting section 96Aand 96B in the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

            With the introduction of General Sales Tax Act, advertisement tax was subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax. However, provision to regulate the advertisements displayed in a public view is required to be made for the Municipal Bodies to control and regulate such advertisements (at times cluttering of such advertisements hampers the movement of traffic also). Accordingly, amendment in section 122 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 is required to be made.

            For the disposal of the properties of the Municipal Corporations, so far there are insufficient provisions for disposal at the rates other than the competitive rates to meet the requirements of public needs and the requirement of policies framed by the Government. The provisions of disposal of property are to be completely re-engineered by carrying out amendment in Section 164 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

            The powers exercised by the Director and Commissioner and Secretary of Town and Country Planning Department were transferred to the Director and Administrative Secretary of the Urban Local Bodies Department on April 1, 2014. Accordingly, amendment was carried out in Section 350 D of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 and the validation of the Act done prior to April 1, 2014 was made, but inadvertently the powers of Director Town and Country Planning Department and Commissioner and Secretary, Town and Country Planning Department was not specifically vested under the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 to the Director and Administrative Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department. There is a necessity to specifically vest these powers in the Director and Administrative Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department respectively. Accordingly, amendment is to be carried out in Section 350 D of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 with retrospective effect from 1 April 1, 2014.

           

The Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2021

 

The Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has been passed to further amend the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

            In the Section for the classification and constitution of Municipalities (2A) of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, for the population, inadvertently "Clause (45)" has been mentioned in place of "Clause (19A)". This needs to be rectified, therefore it was necessary to amend Section 2A of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973. 

            Realizing the present need of Municipal Bodies pressing hard for going in for commercially viable projects provisions has been made to authorize the Municipal bodies to avail commercial borrowings, by way of insertion of section 60A in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 and by section 62A has been inserted in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 for the disposal of municipal properties. So far such disposals are being made through the provisions of Rules.

             Similarly, the Government of India, on the recommendations of the NITI Aayog, has made a suggestion to levy and collect Property Tax based on assessment on the value of the property. So far in Haryana, such practice is not invogue. Further, it has also been proposed that the rates fixed by the Government should be floor rate and the Municipal Bodies should have the liberty to levy Property Tax at the rates higher than the floor rates.

            The section relating to the assessment and collection of Property Tax in the existing Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 does not mention it to be assessed and collect on the basis of the Capital Value or such related parameters, Therefore, there is a necessity to introduce such parameters through enabling provision to this effect by amending section 69 of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

            With the introduction of General Sales Tax Act, advertisement tax was subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax. However, provision to regulate the advertisements displayed in a public view is required to be made for the Municipal Bodies to control and regulate such advertisements (at times cluttering of such advertisements hampers the movement of traffic also). So far such provisions are being made through the provisions of bylaws. Accordingly, the provision enabling to this effect are to be made by inserting section 70A in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

            There are certain buildings which are used for the purposes other than the permissible purposes in the locations where they are situated. The Property Tax on such buildings are required to be levied on the basis of "actual uses" and not on the "permissible uses" of the building as it is the actual uses which puts pressure on the civic services. Though Property Tax is in the nature of tax, having no direct nexus with proportionate services to be provided, yet in practice this tax is utilized by the municipal bodies substantially for providing civic services. Further it is also necessary to discourage such types of practices of unlawful use as they put excessive pressure on laid services resulting at times in highly deficient services as also inconvenience to the law abiding people. Accordingly there is a requirement to make a legal provision both for clarifying the nature of the levy of tax implications and providing for penal provisions by levying tax at increased rates on such properties. Therefore, to achieve the above aspects insertions of section 75D and 75E in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 are to be made.

            In the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, there is no provision regarding the fee to be charged from the properties of the Central Government where they are availing the services provided by the Municipal Bodies. This require to be introduced in order to bring clarity in this regard, Hence, section 84A is proposed to be inserted in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 to achieve this purpose which is already in existence under section 92 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

            To make the Registration of Property very realistic and to be regulated in a better way, provision has been made in procedure laid down by the Revenue Department. Apart from other requirements, No Due Certificate is now required to be obtained from the Municipal bodies. Such provisions do not exist in the existing law. Accordingly enabling provisions to this effect are required to be made by inserting section 99A in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

            From March 2001, the requisite powers of regulations within Control Area were vested with the Municipal Bodies. It has been noticed that there are certain places where the Act is silent about the corresponding provisions of the Town and Country Planning Department Act (Act No. 41 of 1963). It is accordingly necessary to make enabling provisions by inserting proviso in section 203G of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

            The existing provisions about No Due Certificate for sanction/release of electricity, water and sewerage connection happens to be ambiguous in the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973. It is required to be made clearer by substituting section 203H of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

 

The Haryana Enterprises Promotion (Amendment) Bill, 2021

            The Haryana Enterprises Promotion (Amendment), Bill 2021 has been passed to further amend the Haryana Enterprise Promotion Act, 2016.

            The State Government had enacted Haryana Enterprises Promotion Act, 2016, and corresponding rules, to create an ecosystem in which the Ease of Doing Business in the State matches and even exceeds the best global standards to reduce delay in granting clearances/approvals to the Enterprises as well as the costs of doing business in the State.

            Haryana Government introduced Haryana Enterprises Promotion Centre (HEPC) as a Single Window Agency under one roof to provide guidance and hand holding services for obtaining various clearances for implementation of the projects. Invest Haryana portal of HEPC was launched for facilitating the investors to file the Common Application Form for obtaining around 150 clearances of 23 departments in a time bound manner.

            The Business Reform Action Points of Government of India mandates the grant of clearances to existing enterprises and renewals through single window system in a specific timeframe. These action points have been expanding the scope of departments as well as clearances. The recent Business Reform Action Points require provision of punitive provisions in the service delivery framework. It has also become essential to provide for delegation of powers of Haryana Enterprise Promotion Board and Empowered Executive Committee to its Chairman or any member for facilitating quick decision making and granting deemed clearances in a time bound manner to the enterprises.

            The provisions for inclusion of existing enterprises for grant of renewals of the already granted clearances, expanding scope of services and departments in ambit of single window mechanism, fixing time-lines, delegation of the powers to the Nodal Officers, obtaining user feedback from Investor and punitive provision in case of delay in delivery of service, in Haryana Enterprises Promotion Act, 2016 are required to be made for boosting Ease of Doing Business in the State.

            The proposed amendments will strengthen the prospects of Haryana in evaluation of State Ranking being carried out by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Government of India. Therefore, amendments have been made in sections 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,11,12 and 15 of the Haryana Enterprises Promotion Act, 2016.

 

The Haryana Yog Aayog Bill, 2021

            The Haryana Yog Aayog Bill, 2021 has been passed to establish Haryana Yog Aayog for the promotion, management, regulation, training of Yoga and to develop a system of Naturopathy system of medicine and to regulate the practice thereof and to deal with certain other matters such as training, promotion and Yogasana as a Sport etc. in the State.

            Since the inception of the State of Haryana, there has been significant expansion in the field of Yoga. At present, there is no Yog Aayog in the State.

            Thus it is essential to establish and incorporate an Aayog in the State of Haryana to be known as Haryana Yog Aayog for the purpose of promotion, management, regulation, training of Yoga and Naturopathy and registration of Yoga and Naturopathy Professionals in the State.

            So, keeping in view the importance, affectivity and utility of Yoga and Ancient Therapies, there is, an inevitable requirements of Yog Aayog for the promotion, management, regulation, training of Yoga and to develop a system of Naturopathy system of medicine and to regulate the practice thereof and to deal with certain other matters such as training, promotion and Yogasana as a Sport etc.

            The establishment of Haryana Yog Aayog will be beneficial for all the people of Haryana.

 

The Haryana Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2021

            The Haryana Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2021 has been passed to authorize payment and appropriation of Rs. 8966,65,26,981 out of the Consolidated Fund of the State of Haryana for the services during the financial year ending on March 31, 2021.

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