PANAJI
Panaji Hotel and Traders Association (PHATA) has urged all traders, hoteliers and professionals to refrain from payment of trade license fees, garbage fees, signboard tax and house tax to the Corporation of City Panaji while claiming that businessmen are overburdened with the high taxation fee structure of the CCP, an expense which increases every year.
PHATA has demanded that CCP should rationalise its taxation and fee structure while also raising several questions over the utilization of the revenue generated by CCP through these fees and taxes.
Failing this, the body has threatened a one-day business bandh followed by a “CCP Bharo Andolan”, wherein all businessmen will fill up CCP premises. “In keeping with the principle of Gandhigiri all businessmen will present flowers to the Mayor, Commissioner, corporators and all staff members of CCP as a mark of protest,” PHATA has declared.
“Every year CCP, at their whims and fancies, has been steeply increasing the taxation fees of garbage, trade license fees, signboard tax and house tax for traders and residents of Panaji. PHATA has urged all hoteliers, traders and others to pay their regular license fees of Food and Drugs Department, shop and establishment fees, excise license fees, fire renewal fees and to boycott all taxation payment to CCP till the licensing policy is simplified and is acceptable to businessmen and taxation fee structure is reduced,” Barnabe Sapeco, Convenor of PHATA, stated in a press release. PHATA has further demanded that all food stalls serving in the capital city should follow the same licensing policy as those applicable to hotels.
In addition to this, the Association has asked for immediate removal of all the stalls located in the Panaji Children’s Park and Church Square and has suggested that these stalls could be placed either at Patto Plaza of EDC or at Campal, away from residential areas.
PHATA disclosed that it will convene a general body meeting of all hoteliers, professional and traders in the coming days as the struggle for business friendly license renewal will be intensified.
