E-Paper
Marriage halls evading civic taxes
IN CONNIVANCE with Gorakhpur Development Authority and Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation employees and officials, owners of marriage halls are not only violating the norms set by the Urban Development Department but they are also causing a huge loss of revenue to the departments concerned.
IN CONNIVANCE with Gorakhpur Development Authority and Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation employees and officials, owners of marriage halls are not only violating the norms set by the Urban Development Department but they are also causing a huge loss of revenue to the departments concerned.
It is amazing but true that around a dozen marriage halls are paying house tax while they should pay commercial tax to the municipal corporation.
About 12 marriage houses charge Rs 30 to 50,000 per day for a marriage. Yet they do not have proper arrangements for disposal of garbage.
Moreover, these marriage halls are situated in the main market of the city. They have no parking space, which also creates traffic jams but the GDA and municipal corporation officials turn a blind eye to the fact.
Admitting the fact that marriage houses were paying house tax instead of commercial tax, health official of the municipal corporation Dr HP Khare said when Dr Ajay Shanker Pandey was municipal commissioner he convened a meeting with marriage hall owners and designed a scheme to fix further charges on marriage houses but after the transfer of Pandey all the schemes were confined to files.
Khare said municipal corporation officials had shortlisted the marriage houses booking charges of which ranged between Rs 30,000 to Rs 80, 000 per day and notices would be issued to them.
Sources said Sangam Marriage House charged Rs 30,000 per day, Bobina Marriage House Rs 40,000 and Gokul Marriage House Rs 65,000 per day for marriage parties but these marriage houses paid only house tax and water tax.
It is worthy to note that after the directive of then Divisional Commissioner RC Srivastav, GDA prepared a list of around five dozen marriage houses which did not fulfil the norms to run marriage halls but GDA officials failed to take stringent action against them.
These marriage houses are paying only house and water tax to the Municipal Corporation instead of paying the commercial tax and service tax.
