Are You Starting a New Business in Chennai? Here’s How to Obtain a Trade License

Applications for trade licenses require the following documents

As long as the business requires less than 500 square feet of space, the city corporation has simplified the trade licensing process for businesses like automobile spare parts, clothing, electronics, electrical shops, fruits, flowers, furniture, paper, planners and builders, rice mills, tyre shops, art, leather goods, bakeries, aquariums, perfumes and granite. Small traders shall be referred to as such.

The licenses for the above-mentioned trades will be issued within a day of the application being submitted to the Corporation’s Revenue Department.

Under the simplified system, small traders must provide the following documents along with their application for a trade licence:

1. A sworn affidavit on stamp paper valued at Rs 20. 
2. The applicant must provide two passport-sized photographs
3. A copy of the trade premises’ tax receipt
4. All applicants are required to open a National Savings Certificate account at the post office for a minimum of Rs 500 and provide a copy of the deposit certificate.
5. In the case of License fees/Conservancy charges/PFA charges, a demand draft should be made in the name of the Revenue Officer of Chennai Corporation 

A licence application must be accompanied by the following documents for those other than small traders:

1. In the form of a stamp paper of Rs 20 duly attested by a notary public, NOC from the owner of the trade premises
2. A photocopy of the latest tax receipts for the trade premises
3. The application should be accompanied by two passport-size photographs
4. A copy of the national savings certificate (as explained above)
5. If a person intends to open a restaurant or tea shop, or any other trade that requires the use of fire, they need a no-objection certificate from the district fire officer
6. Plastic waste, solid waste, and hazardous waste need to be endorsed by the pollution control board.
7. A demand draft should be made in favor of the Revenue Officer, Chennai Corporation, in order to pay the prescribed license fees, conservancy fees, and PFA fees

Trade license issuing authority and application procedure

Vendors in Chennai are issued online trade license by the Greater Chennai Corporation. It is necessary to apply for the licence at the Corporation’s Zonal Office. The detailed procedure is as follows:

• With their duly signed application form, citizens must first approach the Citizen Facilitation Counter in their respective Zonal Office. Details of the application will be fed online by the counter operator.
• The system will generate an acknowledgement slip with a registration number and send a message to the applicant via SMS once the counter operator submits the application.
• For field verification of the site, the applicant’s details shall be forwarded to the Assistant Revenue Officer (ARO) of the respective zone.
• Following field verification, the ARO will submit the application to the trade license committee headed by the Zonal Officer, along with the Demand Draft towards the licence fee.
• Upon approval by the trade licence committee, the trade licence will be emailed or mailed to the applicant if all of the norms are met. In the event that the applicant does not satisfy or comply with all requirements and norms, the application will be rejected.

Are trade licences valid and how do they need to be renewed?

Trade licences are valid only for the current financial year (in which they are issued) and must be renewed annually. The renewal process (including payment submission) must be completed on the citizen portal by March 31st each year. You can do it online here.

Trade licenses can be obtained throughout the year, but must be renewed between February 1st and March 31st each year.

What is the need for an installation licence?

If the business involves the use of machinery, an installation license is required. The Town Planning Authority (TPA) of the Chennai Corporation issues this license. Every zone has a Town Planning officer.

1. An installation licence is not required if the machinery’s capacity is less than 5 HP.
2. To obtain a license, the applicant must submit the specifications of the machine and an installation diagram, which are then forwarded to a council comprised of officials from the fire department, pollution control board, and police department. A trade licence application for a category that does not fall under the simplified system needs to be reviewed by this council. As per Chennai’s Master Plan, machines with more than 5 HP are allowed only in commercial zones, not residential zones.

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