Hoteliers, bar owners unhappy over exorbitant licence fee
New excise policy has enhanced licence fee from Rs 38 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, application fee from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh. Excise Commissioner justifies hike in fees to make it a flawless business. Traders seek extension of deadline for a fortnight instead of December 31
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Vijayawada: The State government enhanced the licence fee and application fee for the bars to be established for the next calendar year starting from January 1, 2016. The government had issued GO on December 18, giving time till December 31, 2015 for the traders to apply for licence.
The government had issued four GOs, three on December 11 (GO Ms No. 468, 469 & 470) and one on December 18 (GO Ms No. 478) with the new excise policy that is set to come into force from January 1, 2016.
The Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise, Mukesh Kumar Meena, in a circular (C R No. 2997/2015/CPE/E3) on December 18, set the guidelines to complete the process of receiving applications and granting licence for the bars in all municipalities and municipal corporations in the State for the next calendar year.
In the new policy, the State government had enhanced the licence fee from the present Rs 38 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Surprisingly, the application fee, which was Rs 10,000 in the previous year, is now increased to Rs 2 lakh. The applicants would have to pay Rs 5,000 for clearance and Rs 2 lakh towards application fee once the initial clearance is given. The initial clearance, which is to be given duly by the Commissioner, should have trade licence duly issued by the local municipal administration, lease agreement in case the premises is not own and the layout of the premises.
“Rules have been tightened up for both the officers in the department as well as the traders to avoid unwanted incident,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Excise and Prohibition, Y B Bhaskara Rao. He further justified the hike in the application fee and licence fee and said that the hike was to make sure that the business is carried out flawless.
However, the traders are unhappy with the hike and new set of rules. “The application fee which was Rs 10,000 is now increased to Rs 2 lakh, which is abnormal and the licence fee, which is hiked from Rs 38 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. It is very difficult for us, particularly hoteliers to pay such a huge amount to run the bars,” pointed out the Vijayawada Hotels Association president Ilapuram Raja.
It is not just the hotels, the small bars which are run in leased premises are set to have tough time paying the fee and getting clearances. “The orders were issued on December 18 and have reached the officials and the traders on December 20. We have just eight days left to apply. Meanwhile, there is Christmas holidays and December 27 falls on Sunday and there is a possibility of officials going on leave. Will it be possible to get all certificates and apply in such a short period,” asked P Koteswara Rao, a vendor. He wanted the government to extend the deadline by a fortnight to get the applications ready with all the required documents, including fresh lease agreements.
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