Trade licences to go online in Sikkim

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, Mar 30, 2018, Gangtok: The Gangtok Municipal Corporation (GMC) will start issuing new trade licences and renew old ones online from next month.

The decision is part of a larger initiative by the Pawan Chamling-led state government to promote e-governance.

"There could be some hiccups and teething problems initially (when shifting from off online to the online system) and we request the traders to bear with us. There could be a delay of about 15 days in issuing licences because of the shift this year," Gangtok mayor Shakti Singh said.

In the past, the corporation used to issue and renew trade licenses between April 1 and May 31. However, because of the shift, the corporation authorities hope to start issuing licences from the middle of April onwards.

"People used to form a lone queue and waits for hours to get their licenses, but with the online system, they can download their licenses sitting in their homes," said Tshewang Gyachho, the GMC commissioner.

About 12,000 existing traders of Gangtok and the fresh ones will stand to benefit from the online system, the software for which was developed by the National Informatics Centre, Gangtok.

T. Namgyal, the technical director of NIC, said system is an internet-based software and very user-friendly. "Users can easily access the application from any computer connected to the internet using a standard browser," Namgyal added.