Govt to probe illegal ‘photo tax’ at Goa’s most-clicked road

PANAJI:A decision by the village panchayat of Parra, home to picturesque fields and narrow lanes lined with coconut palms, to charge tourists for clicking photos

PANAJI:A decision by the village panchayat of Parra, home to picturesque fields and narrow lanes lined with coconut palms, to charge tourists for clicking photos has caused an uproar after a video of tourists complaining about being charged ₹500 for a single picture went viral.

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Goa’s tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has now promised an inquiry, saying the “illegal” practise would bring a bad name to Goa Tourism.

“We have not given them any permission to charge tourists for clicking photographs. It will clearly affect Goa’s image as a tourism destination. I will check out what exactly the panchayat was up to and if it is found that the fee was being charged to click photos, we will ask them to withdraw it immediately,” Ajgaonkar told HT.

“It will affect the tourism brand of the state and consequently incoming tourists,” he said

The village panchayat put up a notice alongside the picturesque lane informing tourists that they were liable to be charged for clicking photographs of the village.

The village panchayat has justified the move saying it imposed the fee to dissuade tourists from clicking photos of the location, which was increasingly becoming a picnic spot for tourists who often left behind litter and made navigating the narrow road increasingly difficult for road users.

The road, which leads up to the St Anne’s Church in Parra, has featured in several ad films as well as briefly in Bollywood films which has contributed to its increasing popularity.

While current panchayat members refused to comment on the saga, a former sarpanch, Benedict D’Souza, said that charging ordinary tourists to click photos was “not right” but people on commercial shoots should definitely be charged.

“It is wrong on the part of the panchayat to charge a fee for a photo. If it is a commercial shoot, the panchayat can charge. But such a tax should not be levied on amateur tourists. It is God-given nature,” D’Souza said.

Parra falls in the vicinity of the more popular Calangute beach and with tourists increasingly travelling around Goa on self-drive rental bikes, locating new photography hotspots has emerged as a new fad.

Ever since the uproar, village panchayat officials have remained tight-lipped over the fee amid suggestions that the panchayat is considering withdrawing it.

The tourism minister also held out an assurance that if unauthorized persons were “extorting” money from the tourists, he would ask the police to take action.

“About 30-40 people came here for a picnic and left litter behind.The lawyers they consulted said we were entitled to collect garbage tax,” Michael Lobo an MLA representing the area said.

Lobo’s wife is the sarpanch of Parra panchayat.