Vikramaditya
Port Blair, June 01: The decision of the Municipal Council to impose hike in Octroi taxes for import of commodities two wheelers, three wheelers, four wheelers is facing opposition from the traders’ community of these islands.
Accusing the civic body of imposing an unjustified hike on Octroi on import of luxury goods like 4.5 % for 2 wheelers, 5-6 percent for three-wheelers and more than 6-9 percent for four wheelers, the business community here maintain that Octroi tax is paid when a particular product enters a State.
“The unjustified hike in Octroi tax will have an adverse affect on the consumers of these islands who are already reeling under rising prices of commodities,” said a local businessman.
“When some traders approached the Octroi Naka for getting their imports from Chennai and Kolkata released they were informed about the revision of Octroi rates. The Municipal Council never bothered to issue grace period for the local traders as also informing them about the hike in tax rates. Moreover, the proposal of the Council has even not been notified in the official gazette and the hike has been imposed in haste,” the businessman said.
Other businessman said that vehicles that have been pre-booked will now cost an additional Rs 30000-50000 and will seriously impact the traders who are under liabilities to several financial institutions.
“The hike in Octroi tax needs to be reconsidered considering the limited potential of these islands as it will only benefit the Municipal treasury,” he said requesting the intervention of the Lt. Governor for an exemption of two months from hike in octroi tax to enable local dealers plan their business.
The Secretary of Port Blair Municipal Council could not be contacted today for a comment.
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