Hyderabad: Due to the huge losses incurred by operators due to the corona scare and lockdown, the Telangana’s Taxi and Drivers JAC (Joint Action Committee) has demanded that the state government exempt contract carriage vehicles and maxi cabs from paying the motor vehicle tax. If not, they will intensify protests and park their buses before the RTA offices and district collectorates if there is no tax exemption for the next two quarters.
Shaik Salauddin, leader of the JAC and Telangana State Cabs and Bus Operators Association (TSCBOA), claims, “The travel industry in the state is worth more than Rs. 50,000 crore and it is considered the third-largest revenue-generating segment in the state. We pay taxes of nearly Rs. 3,000 crore a year under various heads.
Due to the lockdown, the bus companies and others are unable to pay salaries to staff and other state levies like permit fees insurance and other taxes.
Salauddin added that almost all corporate companies including IT firms clearly informed cab and bus operators that their vehicles were not needed till September 30. With people not hiring buses to visit temples, marriages or other tourist spots, the tax waiver from the state government would help the industry.
“Our industry provides employment to nearly five to six lakh people. While drivers, cleaners, mechanics and other non-technical staff get direct employment, other jobs at petrol pumps, denters, painters, tourism, hotel, and etc. were inter-linked with our industry. Therefore, a huge amount of industry jobs without any government protection,” he said.
The JAC Chairman and TSCBOA President said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao never met any representative of the travel industry during the last six years. Even now, when the entire industry is on the verge of collapse, the CM is not even willing to discuss the problem.
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