The
excise and taxation department's special campaign to
register dhabas for VAT has not gone too well with the
owners. The latter have stepped up their demand for
exemption.
At a press conference here, various leaders of Dhaba
Welfare Association, Punjab, claimed support of BJP over
the issue, saying it (BJP) had arranged their meeting
with chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday. They
said BJP's state unit president Rajinder Bhandari, local
bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia and MP Navjot Sidhu had
accompanied them in their meeting with the chief
minister.
Claiming
that Badal had assured them of some relaxations,
association's chief patron Chander Shekhar said the
officials had been directed to categorise dhabas. Some
tax would be levied on dhabas which have an annual
turnover of Rs 50 lakhs.
Maintaining that the dhabas provide food at economical
rates, he said that by levying 12.5% VAT, the government
had clubbed them in the same category as of hotels.
"Dhabas cannot be compared with McDonalds."
