​

Permit rooms and bars in Mumbai will observe a statewide bandh on Monday, July 14, to protest the unfair hike in Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duty imposed on them. According to Vijay K Singh, General Secretary of the Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHAR), the association has opposed these tax hikes for the past 15 months. He said VAT on liquor has doubled from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, licence fees have increased by 15 per cent, and excise duties have gone up by 60 per cent. Singh added, “These hikes not only affect the 19,200 permit rooms and bars across the state, but the entire business chain.”

Laxmi Punjab Beer Bar at Andheri East. FILE PIC/RANE ASHISH

According to Singh, Maharashtra’s permit rooms and bars collectively employ around 20 lakh people. “With these steep and `draconian` tax hikes, all of those jobs are now at risk,” Singh said. Rajendra Bakshi, executive secretary of AHAR, told mid-day, “We are organising this dry day on Monday to make the authorities understand how badly this affects our industry.” Singh added, “We’ve contacted the Excise Ministry to express our concerns. They told us they would look into the matter, but we haven’t received any concrete response about whether the taxes will be reduced.”

This Monday, all 19,200 permit rooms and bars across Maharashtra will observe a dry day as a show of unity against the tax increases, which the association says are severely hurting the industry. Singh warned that the impact won’t be limited to their sector alone. “We have around 48,000 vendors who supply inventory to us. If we suffer losses or reduced business, it will indirectly affect their livelihoods as well,” Singh said.