MCG chief hints it may extend Rapid Metro’s advertisement tax vacation

An estimated ₹30 crore per year in advertisement tax is likely to be extended to the Rapid Metro Rail Gurugram Limited.

Officials from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) said that the civic body is likely to exempt the Rapid Metro Rail Gurugram Limited (RMGL) from payment of advertisement tax, an estimated ₹30 crore per year. Such a development may assuage fears about expansion plans of the Rapid Metro being adversely affected.

A rapid metro train in Gurgaon.(Parveen Kumar/ HT Photo)

“I am in favour of giving tax exemptions, as it reduces the loss margins of a transport body. The MCG has already offered such an exemption to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and will extend the same to the Rapid Metro as well,” MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav said.

The comment comes as the transport body’s five-year tax exemption duration ended on April 1. Recently, Rapid Metro and the DMRC had objected to the advertising bylaws notified by the Urban Local Bodies in February, prohibiting ads on any Metro property facing the traffic as it may distract motorists.