VAT for piped-gas users: Congress leaders protest

Raising their voice against 12.50 per cent value added tax (VAT) on piped cooking gas, the city Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the District Collector Rajiv Topno, seeking Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention and revisit the decision taken by the government.

The city Congress president Bhikha Rabari and VMC leader of Opposition Chirag Zaveri along with party workers met Topno on Wednesday and demanded immediate decrease in the tax.

Alleging government of double standards, they argued that why the poor piped-gas users has to pay more when the government has imposed only 4 per cent VAT on LPG. They demanded that VAT over piped-gas should be charged at par with LPG. The members said that additional gas of one-lakh cubic metre procured from GAIL is not enough to cater the need of citizens.

Currently, Rabari said, around 72,000 piped gas connections are operational in the city of which majority of connection holders are economically backward. They contended that repeated representation in VMC and even at the state level yielded ‘no results’. Customers are being slapped with bills that have also charged 12.50 pc VAT.

The leaders said that Vadodara, being the first city in South Asia to have piped-cooking- gas supply system, is now facing severe shortage of gas. And the indifferent attitude of authorities and State Government is adding to the woes.