Government of Maharashtra by a Notification dated 28th January 2022 has proposed a hike of 15% in Excise (Bar License) Fees for the FY 2022-23 and the stakeholders strongly believe that such proposed hike of 15% in excise fees is indeed shocking and is completely unbearable, unreasonable and unjustified.
Accordingly, Nagpur Residential Hotels Association (NRHA) held a meeting of its Executive Body chaired by its president Tejinder Singh Renu. NRHA also dispatched a memorandum to Uddhav Thackeray – Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar – Deputy Chief Minister, Balasaheb Thorat – State Revenue Minister, K. B. Umap – State Excise Commissioner requesting, reconsideration and rollback of this notification.
Tejinder Singh Renu – NRHA president said, it appears that the notification has been issued without considering the prevalent circumstances and without having regard to the fact that the Hotel / Restaurant Industry is one of the most severely affected industry due to the COVID pandemic and the resulting restrictions / curbs imposed on the operation of business days and hours, including the then 50% capacity cap.
NRHA submitted that the three waves, one after the other and the restrictions/closures imposed by the Disaster Management Authorities has put the sector in a standstill and shattered the business and hope of the industry resulting in 30% permanent closures. On an average the annual sales have fallen by 80% and further closure would eventually impact the state’s revenue. This situation has caused extensive damage to the sector and it would take nothing less than 5 years for the industry to return to the pre-pandemic levels.
Further, the issue of excise fees hike for FY 2020-21 is subject matter of Writ Petition No. 2873 of 2021 before the Hon’ble High Court which is pending adjudication filed by our Apex Body, Hotel and Restaurant Association (HRAWI), Mumbai. The Hon’ble High Court has protected our interest vide orders dated 6th May 2021 & 13th May 2021. Thus, the prescribed fee hike under reference has no basis and is without considering the relevant factors, and contrary to the applicable rules and regulations.
NRHA humbly requests the State Government to rollback the Hike in License fees for FY 2022-23, waiver of 50% License Fees for FY 2022-23. Extension of deadline to pay the License Fees for FY 2022-23 from 31st March 2022 to 30th June 2022 and to allow Payment of Renewal Fees for FY 2022-23 in four (4) installments. Also present in the meeting were Immediate Past President Prakash Trivedi, Secretary Deepak Khurana, Treasurer Vinod Joshi, Joint Secretary Afzal Mitha, Executive Body Members Govind Mudliar, Santosh Gupta, Tarun Motwani, Ajay Jaiswal, Sanjay Agrawal, Vasudeo Trivedi, Vijay Chaurasiya, Rajesh Dharmik, Anis Opai & Nitin Mehta.
