MARGAO
Claiming that the government is forcing small and medium hotels to pay the excise fees when tourism is almost down with no tourists visiting the state, the Small and Medium Hoteliers Association has made a fervent plea to the government to withdraw the additional surcharge imposed on B, C and D category hotels.
The Association further said that most of the small and medium hoteliers are yet to receive around Rs 14 crore payment from the operators, who had arranged the tour of Russian tourists this year.
The Association has further demanded that no excise license fees are charged for the current financial year, from April 1, 2020 to March 30, 2021, with a further demand that the excise license fees and the surcharge that has been paid by the hotel owners for such period are withdrawn.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Association President Serafino Cota has requested the government to consider the points raised in their petition and give them a personal hearing in the mater in the light of the disposal of the writ petition by the High Court.
“With the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, the government had imposed a lockdown from March 22, 2020. From September 1, 2021, the Goa government has allowed the bars to operate, but while the standalone bars have opened, based on this order, the small and medium hotels having bars and restaurants are still shut due to lack of tourists,” Serafino said.
That’s not all. Serafino claimed that the Excise Department has now started calling members of the Small & Medium Hoteliers Association to pay full excise license fees effective from April 1, 2020, adding “this means, we are expected to pay fees for the period of the lockdown.”
He said the Association had approached the High Court as there is no guarantee when the tourist demand will return for the small and medium hotels.
“The High Court has directed the Association to make a representation to the Finance Secretary, which has been submitted and we are awaiting a reply,” he added.
To a query, Serafino said while the standalone bars are required to pay excise fees amounting to Rs 15,000, the B category and C category hotels have been levied excise fees amounting to a whopping Rs 60,000-80,000 and Rs 40,000-60000 respectively.
“How can the government tell the hoteliers to pay the excise fees when the hotels are shut and the bars attached to these hotels have not opened because of the pandemic?” Serafino questioned, adding that neither the charters bringing the tourists have started nor the small and medium hoteliers see any hope of the tourism industry starting in the near future.
“The government has imposed huge excise fees on the bars in the small and medium hotels on the ground that the bars are attached to the hotels, which also have pool facilities. What the government doesn’t understand is that neither the small and medium hotels have opened nor the bars started to justify the excise fees,” he reiterated.
