DELHI: After much hullabaloo, the MCD has passed the proposal to slash property tax to 15 percent from 20 percent. But this move has failed to impress
Karol Bagh hoteliers. They are still adament about their demand to slash property tax to 12.5 percent.
"It was unfair for the government to charge 20 percent house tax from
budget hotels, which fall under the guest house category, while they charged 12.5 percent tax from
four-star and below category hotels," said Sandeep Khandelawal, president of
Karol Bagh Traders Federation. "Though it will work as a breather for us, we are not going to stop our demand to bring it down to 12.5 percent."
In July, 2010, to accommodate tourists for Commonwealth Games (CWG), guest houses in Delhi were clubbed in the 'Special Non-Residential' category along with three-star and above category of hotels. The property tax in this category is flat 20 percent. This translated into a rise in house tax from 12.5 percent to 20 percent for
budget hoteliers.
On asked if they would stall their plan to move the Supreme Court, Khandelwal said that as of now he is going to put it on hold. "Our efforts have paid off to some extent. They have brought it to 15 percent, but we will keep pressuring them to bring it down to 12.5 percent."
Yogendra Chandolia, standing committee chairperson of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said, "We understand that 20 percent house tax has aggravated the problems of guest house owners in Delhi. Thus, we reached the 15 percent figure after taking into consideration the view point of stakeholders from across the city," he said.
When asked about the demand for a futher slash in the tax rate, Chandolia offered, "We can not please everybody all the time. Our decision has been taken after a lot of consultations and deliberation."
Balan Mani, vice president,
Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owner Association, alleged that the recent step of the MCD is just a face-saving exercise. "We want the MCD to come clean on the issue as to why they have been over-charging us since long. Also, some hotel owners have privately formed a group and are planning to move court to seek legal stand on the issue. Our organisation has given full support to these people," Mani said.
"We still demand that house tax should be nothing more than 12.5 percent," he added.
JN Chawla, spokesperson, Karol Bagh Hotel Association, said, "We are waiting for the new official notice to come to us. Once we get that notice, we will go to the court on a different issue, asking if they are going to charge 15 percent from now on, why have they been taxing us at 20 percent and if they are going to refund the extra money?" he said.
"We also want to know if we will be given the provision to pay less tax in the coming years to compensate for whatever extra we have paid so far. If not, we will move the courts," he added.
Khandelwal, who also runs a hotel called
Nanak Continental in
Karol Bagh, said that apart from house tax, there are so many other charges that hotels have to pay. "A 5 percent slash is no relief to us," he said
