Bar owners go to court over fee hike
Nisha Ann Joseph
[ Thursday, August 14, 2003 04:07:56 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
Dance bar owners of the city have dragged the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC)
to court. The corporation earlier served notices to dance bars to pay a daily
fee of Rs. 250 as entertainment tax.
‘Fight for Right’, an association of dance bar owners has filed a case in
the Mumbai High Court against the civic authorities decision to charge Rs. 250
as daily fee from them. There are 42 bars in which floor dance is permitted. The
corporation was expecting to collect about Rs. 35 lakh annually through the
entertainment tax. The association has argued that the fee is quite steep and
the corporation should not resort to collect it as it will adversely affect
their business.
In 1998, the TMC general body had passed a resolution to collect tax from these
dance bars. The tax is collected under Section 149 (d), Section 127, Sect 477 of
the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act (BPMC Act). The bar owners had
made several representation to the civic authorities seeking reduction in the
tax rate. They argued that the steep tax would make their business unviable as
they are already overburdened with other taxes charged by the state government.
The corporation also collects entertainment tax from cinema halls, drama halls,
etc. The entertainment tax in these cases have been increased from Rs. 15 to Rs.
50 per day. TMC assistant commissioner Anil Salve said that the association of
dance bar owners has moved the High Court against the TMC move to collect the
entertainment tax. TMC will be filing an affidavit with the High Court on the
matter.
The development comes in the wake of the Mumbai High Courts’ recent order
restraining the TMC from charging advertisement tax on name boards over shops.
The TMC was proposing to collect about Rs. 75 lakhs through the advertisement
tax. Advertisement and entertainment taxes are among various sources of revenue
to the corporation’s ever growing expenditure. In order to meet the
expenditure, the corporation has been looking at various options for increasing
its revenue through taxes.
Last year, the civic authority collected Rs. 2 crore through advertisement tax
on hoardings, signboards, kiosk, etc. The corporation is targeting to collect
over Rs. 2.32 crore this year. Also, it is expecting to increase its revenue
from entertainment tax where it charges a fee for any public performance like
circus, drama, etc.
[Times of India, Thursday, August 14, 2003 ]