Trade Licence Affidavit

When you need it

You are applying to a Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council for a trade licence to run a trade the municipal law treats as one requiring a licence — commonly the "dangerous and offensive" trades scheduled under the applicable municipal Act, such as an eatery or dhaba using fire, a business storing or selling chemicals, timber, scrap, or similar goods, or another trade the local byelaws specify — and the municipal office wants a sworn affidavit from the applicant along with the application form. In Punjab this is issued under the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 in a Corporation area, or the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 in a Municipal Council or Nagar Panchayat area; in Chandigarh, under the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 as extended to and applied in the Union Territory, administered by the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh. The affidavit affirms the trade carried on, the premises it is carried on at, whether the applicant owns or occupies the premises with the owner's consent, and any fire or pollution clearance the trade needs before a licence can issue. For a trade licence application or renewal in Punjab or Chandigarh. Not a substitute for the licence application form itself, and not the Shop & Establishment registration, which is a separate requirement under a different Act — many businesses need both.

What follows is written for Punjab and Chandigarh. It states the position there rather than describing how it varies, so the amounts below are the ones that apply — worth confirming at the sub-registrar’s office, because rates change. If the property is anywhere else in India, none of this is yours.