Trade Licence in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

What is a trade licence in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu?

A trade licence in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is permission from a municipal council for a named person to carry on a named trade at a named premises. Unlike a large state with one urban development department and one common portal, this UT is administered through three separate municipal councils, each covering its own island of territory:

• Silvassa Municipal Council, for the urban area of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the largest of the three regions at about 491 square kilometres, with a population of roughly 3.44 lakh.
• Daman Municipal Council, for Daman; about 72 square kilometres, population roughly 1.91 lakh.
• Diu Municipal Council, for Diu; about 40 square kilometres, population roughly 52,000.

The UT administration lists all three together under the Municipal Corporation heading on its official portal, ddd.gov.in, with addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for each. Related departments listed on the same site, the District Industries Centre, Town and Country Planning, the Department of Urban Development and the Revenue Department: come into play for larger or industrial premises, because Dadra and Nagar Haveli in particular has a heavy manufacturing base.

The practical point for a shopkeeper is simple: there is no single UT-wide trade licence counter. You deal with the council that covers your address. The administration does run a common online citizen services platform, Sugam, reachable from ddd.gov.in, alongside recruitment notices, tenders and RTI.

Who can and who cannot apply?

You can apply for a trade licence here if you carry on, or intend to carry on, a trade at a premises inside Silvassa, Daman or Diu municipal council limits, and you can document that premises. Individuals, partnership firms and companies are all eligible. There is no income test, no caste criterion and no domicile requirement. A trade licence is a regulatory permission attached to premises, so the eligibility filters that govern income or category certificates have no bearing on it.

You cannot apply to a municipal council for a premises outside its limits. Dadra and Nagar Haveli has a great deal of territory beyond Silvassa's municipal boundary, and a shop in one of its villages is not eligible for a Silvassa Municipal Council trade licence. The village panchayat or District Panchayat is the body to ask. Equally, a Daman business cannot be licensed by Diu Municipal Council or the reverse.

You are also not eligible for a licence covering a trade the council does not permit at that location, or a premises whose use conflicts with the land use notified by Town and Country Planning. Where the activity is manufacturing rather than trade, the District Industries Centre route may apply instead of, or in addition to, the municipal licence.

What documents are required?

The document set the three councils work from is built around identity, the premises, and whether the premises is clear with the council:

• Identity proof of the person the licence will be issued to.
• Proof of the trade premises; ownership papers, or a rent or lease agreement with the owner's no-objection.
• The latest property tax receipt for the premises. Daman Municipal Council issues property tax notices regularly, and arrears against a premises hold up a licence.
• A site plan or layout where cooking, storage or manufacturing is involved.
• Proof of constitution — partnership deed or incorporation certificate, where a firm or company applies.
• FSSAI registration or licence for any food-handling trade. Daman and Diu are tourist economies with a dense concentration of hotels, restaurants and eating houses, and this is checked.
• The stamped counter receipt for the fee.

Keep originals at the premises, because a council inspector may visit and producing the tenancy and tax papers on the first visit is what shortens the file most.

How to get a trade licence in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

1. Identify your municipal council. Silvassa for the DNH urban area, Daman Municipal Council for Daman, Diu Municipal Council for Diu. If the premises is outside all three, the panchayat route applies instead.
2. Call or visit the council office and ask the licensing section for the current trade licence application form and the fee for your trade category. Silvassa Municipal Council is at Near Town Hall, Shahid Chowk, Silvassa – 396230 on 0260-2633192, open 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM; Daman Municipal Council is at Fort Area, Moti Daman – 396220 on 0260-2230666 and 0260-2230879; Diu Municipal Council is at Fort Road, Diu on +91-9099910215.
3. Assemble the document set listed above, with originals and one photocopy of each.
4. Submit the application at the council's licensing counter, and confirm the trade category recorded on it matches what the business actually does, the category drives the fee.
5. Pay the fee at the counter and collect a stamped receipt carrying the application number. Do not leave without it and do not pay anything the receipt does not record.
6. Be available for the council inspection of the premises, with the originals.
7. Collect the licence from the same counter, and note the period it is issued for so the renewal is not missed.

How do you use the online route?

The UT administration provides online citizen services through its Sugam platform, linked from ddd.gov.in, and each council also maintains its own website, Silvassa at smcdnh.in, Daman at dmcdaman.in, and Diu through diusmartcity.com. Check your own council's site and the Sugam service list before making the trip, because what is available online differs between the three councils and changes as the administration digitises further. Where the online route exists for your council, it is the same application reaching the same officer, not a separate queue.

How do you check the status of an application?

Quote the application number from your stamped receipt to the licensing section of the council you filed with. Because the three councils are small and administratively separate, the counter is the authoritative source, there is no common UT-wide status tracker for trade licence. Silvassa publishes silvassamunicipalcouncil@gmail.com, Daman publishes codmc-daman-dd@nic.in and codmc.daman@gmail.com, and Diu publishes dmc-diu-dd@nic.in for written follow-up.

Why do trade licence applications get held up here?

• The premises falls outside the municipal council applied to: most often a Dadra and Nagar Haveli village outside Silvassa's boundary.
• Property tax on the premises is in arrears with the council.
• The trade category on the form does not match the business actually run.
• The rent or lease document is expired or carries no owner's no-objection.
• The premises use conflicts with the land use notified by Town and Country Planning.
• A food business applied without FSSAI registration.
• Nobody was present at the premises when the council inspector called.

What does it cost, and what about agents?

Each municipal council sets its own trade licence fee by trade category and premises, so there is no single UT-wide figure to quote: ask at the counter of the council covering your address, and pay only against a stamped receipt. That receipt is the entire legitimate government charge, and nothing is payable to any clerk, inspector or facilitator beyond it.

These are small councils with short counters and named officers, which makes middlemen both unnecessary and easy to check on. Anyone offering to "arrange" a Silvassa, Daman or Diu trade licence for a lump sum is charging for a queue position that does not exist. If you are asked for money the receipt does not record, take it to the Chief Officer of the council concerned, Silvassa on 0260-2633192, Daman on 0260-2230666, Diu on +91-9099910215, and, failing that, to the UT administration through ddd.gov.in.