Team Heralds

PANJIM:  The Panjim Hotel and Traders Association (PHATA) has slammed the City Corporation for failing to provide proper service to the businessmen and the residents in the capital.

To protest the inefficiency of the City of Corporation of Panaji (CCP), the Association has urged its members to stop paying fees to the Corporation and demanded that taxes should be rationalised. 

“We have urged all traders, hoteliers and professionals not to pay the CCP any trade licence fees, garbage fees, signboard tax, house tax as businessmen are overburdened with the high taxation fee structure of the CCP which are raised every year without any justification. Every year CCP at its whims and fancies has been steeply increasing the tax for traders and residents of Panjim. We demand that the taxes charged by CCP should be rationalised,” PHATA Convener Barnabe Sapeco told reporters after an emergency meeting held on Sunday.

PHATA has however urged all hoteliers, traders and others to pay their regular licence fees of Food & Drugs Department, Shop & Establishment Fees, Excise Licence Fees and Fire renewal fees while boycotting all taxation payment to CCP till the licensing policy is simplified and is acceptable to businessmen and taxation structure is reduced. 

“All gaddas serving food should follow the same licencing policy as those applicable to hotels. All the gaddas located in the Panjim Children’s Park at Church Square which have messed up the locality, should be removed immediately and be placed either at Patto Plaza of EDC or at Campal away from residential areas,” Sapeco demanded. 

PHATA will soon be calling for a general body meeting of all hoteliers, professional and traders as the struggle for business friendly licence renewal will be intensified. It has been proposed to have a one day business bandh followed by a CCP bharo andolan where all businessmen will fill up CCP premises and in keeping with the principle of Gandhigiri all businessmen will present flowers to the Mayor, Commissioner, Corporators and all staff members of CCP as a mark of protest.

PHATA has stated that in spite of huge collection of revenue from businessmen and city residents there is hardly any proper service rendered by CCP. “People are wondering where and how the money collected is being spent by the CCP,” he said.