Hotels, chemists strike tomorrow in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Hotels in the state and Andhra Pradesh will remain shut on May 30 to protest the proposed higher tax rates under the GST regime which will come into effect on July 1. Also on Tuesday, chemists will down shutters to protest, among other things, the new requirement to upload records of sale of medicines on a central server.

The TS and AP hoteliers’ associations have extended its support to the bandh called by the South Indian States Hotels Association. The Federation of Hotels and Restaurants’ Association of India has given a call to hold dharna on June 1 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

The Telangana State Hotels Association and Greater Hyderabad Hotels Association have extended their support to bandh and dharna.

Hotels fear hike in expenses
The Telangana State Hotels Association on Sunday passed a resolution stating that GST rates were against the interests of the hotel industry and the public and was detrimental to the growth of the sector.

It appealed to hotels, restaurants, lodges, bars and restaurants, sweet shops, bakeries, tiffin centres, messes, dhabas, canteens, caterers and resorts to wear black badges as a mark of protest from May 29 to 31 and voluntarlily close their businesses on May 30.

Association president S. Venkat Reddy said that under the GST regime, customers would have to pay tax at 12 per cent and 18 per cent in about 90 per cent of the hotels as against 5 per cent VAT now.

“Nearly 90 per cent of the hotels are required to file returns thrice a month. upload the sales invoices, bills regularly. Small and medium hotels have to depend on billing machines. A lot of administrative work and expenses will be incurred by hoteliers under GST,” Mr Reddy said.

Hotel owners argued that the consequences of higher GST rates will drive common people to roadside eateries, which prepare and serve food under unhygienic condtions, who do not have any licences or pay any taxes and not provide any employment like hotels. The government will have no control over these eateries.

“We have made several representations to Centre and state governments to levy two-tier tax structure, namely 5 per cent for non-star category hotels and other tax slab for star hotels. However, they have completedly ignored our pleas,” Mr Reddy added.