Hoteliers rue no reduction in property tax

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, November 4

Members of the Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHARA) alleged that their demand of rationalisation of property tax on hotels and restaurants remained unmet despite their meeting with the Deputy Chief Minister three times.

Addressing mediapersons, AHARA president APS Chatha, who is also a senior functionary of the Punjab Hotel, Restaurant and Resort Association, said the Local Bodies Department had fixed Rs81 per square yard as property tax for hotels and restaurants while for the rest of the industry, the tax rate was Rs5 per square yard.

SAD (trade wing) Amritsar president Rajinder Singh Marwaha said the grouse of hospitality industry was genuine and he would continue to present their case to resolve it at the earliest.

AHARA general secretary Piyush Kapoor said, hotels, restaurants and resorts were classified as industry by the state government as per its new policy for hospitality sector in 2013. He opined that the property tax rate of Rs5 per square yard should be applicable to these units as well. He added that maximum 240 units, which include 198 hotels, besides serais (inns), dharamshalas, rest houses and guest houses, were situated in the entire state. He said this data was collected in a survey conducted by the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) in 2013. As many as two crore tourists visited the holy city in fiscal 2011-12 and on an average day visitors count was over 50,000 which went above 60,000 on weekends, he added.

Kapoor said the government had not meaningfully contributed in developing the tourism in the holy city while it was quick to introduce taxes.

He said, “Surface infrastructure was at worst in the walled city and the surrounding areas. Deplorable condition of roads, rampant encroachment, besides, congested roads and omission of convenient mass transport unfold a number of challenges to visitors.”

“On the other hand, the government has delayed restoration of tourism related projects like Qila Gobindgarh, summer palace of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in Ram Bagh, Pull Kanjri, and heritage village on the premises of Guru Nanak Dev University. However, more taxes are being levied at the industry,” rued Kapoor.