Maharashtra Govt Announces Waiver Of Excise License Fee For Hotels And Restaurants

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The Maharashtra government has announced a partial waiver of the excise license fee for hotels and restaurants. This is such a major relief to the hospitality industry affected badly by the coronavirus pandemic,

The Govt also announced the roll-back of the 15 per cent annual fee increase for the year 2020.

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) and the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) have welcomed the Maharashtra government’s decision.

The government hopes this move will go a long way in restoring normalcy for the sector that has been hit badly due to the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This is a major relief for the restaurants in the state and we thank the government for giving us the waiver on the excise license fee. The eight odd months of lockdown has wrecked almost every other player in the hospitality industry. An annual fee should be payable if a service is rendered for the entire year. The HRAWI had been contesting the applicability of the fee ever since restaurants were asked to remain closed during the lockdown. Also, the 15 per cent increase in the annual fee at a time when hotels and restaurants remained shut was unfair“, said President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India, Sherry Bhatia.

“Restaurants had not voluntarily closed business but were asked to do so, as per government orders during the lockdown. The government, especially our Hon’ble Chief Minister and Tourism Minister have been very receptive to our pleas throughout the crisis and we are relieved to hear the announcement. I would be failing if I did not thank Ms Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Excise, for making this possible,” Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said.

“This is a very positive step towards supporting the industry which has been badly hit due to the pandemic related lockdown. We expect such kind of steps in the coming days too, which will help the industry to bounce back to some normalcy.

“Our industry is the second-largest employment provider with 60 lakh direct employment in and around Mumbai and two crores indirect employment and this will help the government too on the revenue front,” AHAR president Shivanand Shetty said.

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(With inputs – PTI)


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Rohan Kumar
Rohan Kumar
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