The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is planning to introduce a five-year trade licence renewal facility, allowing businesses to renew their licences for five years through a single application, Administrator Abdus Salam said on Sunday.
"Hopefully, we will introduce it soon," he said at a discussion meeting on "Local Business and Commerce, Law and Order, Human Rights Development and Trade Licence Services" in the capital.
The administrator also said the DSCC was taking initiatives to digitalise its services.
"We are working to make the trade licence renewal process easier, faster and digital," he said, adding that the city corporation plans to introduce a one-stop service soon to provide harassment-free trade licence services.
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), in collaboration with the DSCC, organised the event at its Motijheel office, where a week-long trade licence renewal service was launched for businesses operating within the DSCC area.
Trade licence holders, including DCCI members, can renew their licences for fiscal year 2026-27 by paying the prescribed fees at the DCCI office from August 16 to 20, between 10am and 4pm.
Abdus Salam said the DSCC currently had around 250,000 trade licences, although the number of businesses operating within its jurisdiction was significantly higher.
He urged all businesses to obtain and renew trade licences to ensure they operate legally.
On traffic congestion, the administrator said initiatives were underway to bring battery-operated auto-rickshaws and hawkers under a registration system.
DSCC Chief Executive Officer Md Khoybar Rahman said a major share of the city corporation's revenue came from holding taxes paid by residents and trade licence fees paid by businesses.
Around 246,180 trade licences have already been issued across 294 business categories within the DSCC jurisdiction, he added.
He also said the city corporation had set a revenue collection target of Tk 1.5 billion for fiscal year 2026-27 and urged businesses and residents to cooperate in achieving the target.
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed said a trade licence was one of the basic documents required to operate a business.
However, entrepreneurs often face difficulties in obtaining and renewing licences due to a lack of information, uncertainty over required documents and delays at different stages of the process, he said.
He emphasised that automating the process would significantly reduce delays and harassment in obtaining trade licences and other business-related services.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Police Commissioner (Admin) Md Masud Karim said business and investment could not gain momentum without a supportive law and order situation.
He urged businesspeople to inform law enforcement agencies if they faced extortion allegedly involving police personnel while unloading goods from trucks or covered vans at different locations in Old Dhaka.
