Petaling Jaya: All businesses in Petaling Jaya will be required to pay a license fee for their management offices from next year.

The Petaling Jaya City Council made the decision at the full council meeting in August to impose a new fee under the Licencing of Trades, Busineses and Industries (Petaling Jaya City Council) By-Laws 2007 which will affect businesses operating in some 25,000 premises in the city.

Business operators will be required to pay an annual fee based on the built-up areas of their offices:

• RM250  for offices with an area up to 90sqm

• RM500 for offices with an area from 91-120sqm

• RM750 for offices with an area of 121sqm and above.

MBPJ has asked those who have not applied for a licence for their management offices to do so and to submit the floor plans of the offices as soon as possible.

The council has begun sending out announcement notices.

MBPJ public relations and corporate unit senior assistant director (corporate) Hj Ahmad Johari Salleh said the licence fee should have been imposed earlier but there was no provision for it.

“Under the new Licensing of Trades, Businesses and Industries (Petaling Jaya City Council) By-Laws 2007, there is a clause that states ‘any business not inclusive under this Schedule may be imposed a licence fee at the maximum rate not exceeding RM1,000.’

“Some businesses have a shop downstairs and an office upstairs. They enjoy all the facilities and services we provide but pay only one fee. With the new license we will also be able to monitor what goes on in these offices,” Ahmad Johari said.

MBPJ is not the only council in Selangor to impose a fee on management offices. A few of the other local councils have done the same. Each council fixes its own rates (see table).

To a question whether the decision was made because MBPJ needed an additional source of income, Ahmad Johari denied it, saying that the money would go back to the city folks through maintenance and development projects.

Societies, NGOs and professional bodies are exempted from paying the fee, although they may have received the notification letter.

“We have sent out the notices together with reminders to renew signboard licences. However, those who are not operating businesses can just write to us to state that they are a society or NGO. They do not have to pay the management office licence fee,” Ahmad Johari clarified.

For further enquiries, please call MBPJ’s licensing unit at 03-7960 4667 or 03-7960 9026.

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