Best Lawyers in Chandigarh Village levies ‘tax’ on commercial vehicles

Avneet Kaur

Kapurthala, June 29

Commercial vehicles and vendors entering the Nangal Lubana village in Kapurthala for trade purposes are being forced to pay ‘ferry tax’ imposed by the panchayat in order to generate revenue for development works.

Although the panchayat members and village sarpanch claimed the ferry tax had been passed through a resolution seeking suggestions from villagers, the vendors in the village alleged that the tax was being imposed upon them arbitrarily.

The panchayat has fixed the ferry tax at Rs 50 for trucks, Rs 30 for tractor trailers carrying sand or bricks, Rs 30 for two-wheelers, Rs 50 for four-wheelers, Rs 20 for cycle vendors and Rs 500 for cable operators. Besides, a tax of Rs 100 is imposed on DJ operators, Rs 50 on gutter-cleaning tanks, Rs 100 for six months on those who install banners or flex boards on the walls of villages and Rs 50 for wrong parking on streets.

Talking to The Tribune, Kuldeep Singh (65), a lemon juice vendor, said, “The panchayat has imposed this tax on its own while half of the village is against the move,” he said, adding that it was the duty of the government to release funds to the panchayat to carry out development works and small vendors like him, who hardly earn Rs 150 to Rs 200 per day, should not be forced to pay such taxes.

Meanwhile, sarpanch Ajmer Singh said after observing that overloaded trucks carrying sand and bricks crossed the village and damaged the roads, it became necessary to come up with an action plan that benefited the villagers. When asked about the permission to levy this tax, he said under ‘The Panchayati Raj Act’, the panchayat held the power to generate revenue from available sources in the village.

Deputy Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said the matter came to light recently and he had fixed the responsibility of officials concerned. He said the panchayat would be sent a letter to stop levying this tax immediately.

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