Chennai: From the day Goods and Service Tax (GST) was rolled out, people have been protesting against the exorbitant tax rates and recently, a new problem is added to the list of GST related issues: 5 per cent tax levied on all air conditioned buses operated by Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and other private players.
New ticket rates
With ticket fares ranging from Rs 15 to 100, a tax of Rs 1 to 5 is charged and commuters rue that the already pricey tickets have become costlier. “Though officials have put it under the slab of five per cent, many a times six to seven per cent tax is being levied. For a '50 ticket, three rupees is charged as tax which is six per cent of the ticket fare,” rued S. Priyanka, a commuter.
Activist Citizen Senthil said, according to the GO, the fare is fixed at Rs 1.10 per kilometer for AC buses, but when the amount comes in decimals, they pick the next integer, so the price is already hiked. It gets a double hike due to GST.
With the payment of tax, the citizens have all the rights to question against the maintenance of buses and bus depots including provision of seating facility and drinking water, which is a rarity in the city.
Also, at the time of a major accident, the passenger can claim his hospital expenses. With not many vehicles having insurance, this might be an issue.
A bus conductor seeking anonymity said he doubts if the officials would pay the tax amount to the central government because the department is already facing the issues for putting the provident fund and insurance money under rotation.
When contacted, an official said they are receiving an average of Rs 600 as tax for each bus and it would be paid to the central government.
