It is a
good move and the first relief given by the government to the tourism industry.
It is welcome but it is unfortunate it has not been given to all categories and
they have focused on hotels in the “b” and “c” category. What about all the
hotels that are in the “a” category. Everyone has taken a beating during the
pandemic. Operating a hotel is expensive and re-starting one can be a very
expensive affair. The services like electricity and water are still being
charged on rates decided earlier.
Savio Messias, Hotelier Vasco
It is
peanuts. They have reduced payment for fees that are miniscule and done nothing
about excise, pollution, electricity, water and other fees which are
prohibitive in nature. We have no business and yet we have to pay such costs.
They are also charging us fines if we delay paying it by a day.
Padma kumar Nair, Hotelier Calangute
Last
year the government provided us with help and now they have provided help to
services which had not received any help earlier.
Cruz Cardozo, Head Shack Owners
association
I
already paid Rs 1 lakh the day before and I would like to know who will pay me
Rs. 50,000 back as per this government decision. I am going over to meet the
authorities today and I hope to get an answer.
Francisco Fernandes, Pele water sports
Where
should I start? This government has not reduced any fee to the small and medium
hotels. We are still being charged for the garbage, for the house and as far as
the electricity is concerned we are charged minimum charges for its
consumption. This was done as per consumption the previous year. But we hardly
consumed anything so far because there were no guests. We got beaten over
there. It is the same with water consumption. We have been charged heavily for
water we have not consumed. There have been minimum charges but it is based on
earlier consumption of water when we had guests. They have reduced fees for
something we did not even ask. Tourism fee is Rs 5000 per year. We now have to
pay Rs 2500. They reduced registration renewal fee and used the word 50 percent
renewal. I don’t want to celebrate. This government is senseless. They closed
the bar in the hotel but still charged the full amount. They charged us for
serving alcohol in the pool that was closed. That came to around Rs. 20,000.
Bar license is like a gun license. We are paying for stuff that was not
operational because there were no guests. We could operate the pool and yet we
were paying for liquor served there. This government is charging us excise, bar
fees, petrol and diesel. If you delay paying these by a day you have to pay
fifty percent of the fees as a fine. They have killed us with this scheme. The
TTAG may appreciate it but we are not happy.
Serafin Cotta, President, Small and
Medium Hotel Owners’ Association, Varca
We
welcome this relief but this was one of the requests made to the government. It
has been notified now. The a and b category hotels have also suffered and
should have been given this too. This help however will go a long way in
helping the industry.
Nilesh Shah, President, TTAG
I think
it is good but it will mainly benefit the small hotels. Everyone has suffered
and it should have been given to everyone. The registration fees have been
doubled and tripled for the big guys. The operational costs of the big guys are
so much more. But this move will help but like I said it should have been
across the board.
Ernest Dias, COO TCI
