Corporation officials yesterday locked nine shops in Coimbatore that did not pay rents. In all the five zones under the Corporation of Coimbatore, the shops built in the commercial premises are rented out to private players on a monthly basis.

Authorities are taking action to lock down the shops that have not paid rents for a long time. Accordingly, 15 shops with rent arrears of more than six months have been locked up in the last few weeks.

It was revealed that seven vegetable shops in the MGR wholesale market on Mettupalayam Road and nine shops in the Kountampalayam Prabhu Nagar area had been operating without paying rents to the Corporation for more than six months.

Following this, on the orders of the Corporation Commissioner Kumaravel Pandian, officials led by the Western Regional Assistant Commissioner Senthil Arasan, including Assistant Revenue Officer Menaka Kumari, locked all the nine non-paying shops.