Darjeeling civic body to levy tax on tourists despite widespread opposition from tourism stakeholders

Hoteliers had said it was the fourth attempt by the civic body to levy taxes on tourists and the earlier initiatives had derailed because the collection process had many loopholes

The Darjeeling municipality’s coupon for the tourist ‘Entry Fee’: The Telegraph

Vivek Chhetri, TT,  Darjeeling, 01.08.24 : The Darjeeling municipality is looking to introduce a tourist tax after shelving the move for eight months following widespread opposition, especially from tourism stakeholders.

In November last year, The Telegraph first reported the Darjeeling municipality’s decision to levy a tax of ₹20 on each visitor per day.

The civic body also floated a tender with a base price of ₹25 lakh for collecting the amounts from tourists. A private agency bagged the contract for ₹28.25 lakh.

Hoteliers had said it was the fourth attempt by the civic body to levy taxes on tourists and the earlier initiatives had derailed because the collection process had many loopholes.

“We need to keep a separate person to collect taxes from tourists. The civic people come at their convenience and ask us to show them registers. Tourists also refuse to pay. If the civic body collects the taxes directly without involving hotels, we are fine,” a hotelier had said.

The first time the municipality tried to collect the tax was in 2008, followed by ₹3 per head per day in 2011 and ₹10 per head per day in 2012.

Hoteliers had said they would have no problems if the civic body collected the taxes at entry points. Moreover, many said unlike Bhutan where foreigners paid taxes, differentiating a “tourist” from people coming from nearby places for work would be cumbersome.

Questions were also being asked about the contract amount.

“During a good tourism year, nearly 10 lakh tourists visit Darjeeling. Even if collection is done only from 70 per cent of the arrivals, we are looking at a collection figure far higher than the bid amount,” an observer had said.

Darjeeling is home to 400-odd hotels and more than 100 homestays.

According to the Bengal Municipality Act, civic bodies cannot charge more than ₹3 per tourist a day.

Following the opposition, Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), directed the civic body to shelve the plan. Thapa also said the hill body would do a detailed study and chalk out a plan for the collection.

Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) runs the Darjeeling municipality.

Sources, however, told The Telegraph that the municipality was again rolling out the tourist tax without addressing the concerns raised by the hoteliers earlier.

“They have printed the receipts and started distributing them to some hotels which are asked to collect the taxes,” said a source.

Darjeeling civic chairman Dipendra Thakuri admitted that the municipality was planning to relaunch the tourist tax.

“We had to stop because there was a lot of opposition. However, since the tender process has already been completed, we are planning to go ahead,” said Thakuri.

The chairman, who was not forthcoming with the details, admitted that the Bengal Municipality Act allowed a civic body to collect only ₹3 per person. “The amount is meagre. We are planning to collect ₹10 each from tourists,” he added.

However, the printed coupons show the amount of ₹20 as “Tourist Entry Fee”.

Asked if the municipality was making any changes in the collection process, Thakuri said: “We will follow the sequence which worked earlier.”

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/darjeeling-civic-body-to-levy-tax-on-tourists-despite-widespread-opposition-from-tourism-stakeholders/cid/2037779