It’s shutters down at a bar near the Main Road overbridge in Ranchi on Sunday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Happy hour no more.

From Sunday, when the government’s new fee slab came into effect, bar and hotel owners’ associations in Jharkhand launched an indefinite strike in protest against the system that effectively doubles the amount of money needed by establishments to annually renew their licence.

According to information, prior to the revised rate, there were three slabs to renew yearly licences — Rs 2 lakh for restaurants/bars located in rural areas, Rs 5 lakh for hotels/bars across urban hubs and Rs 6 lakh for five-star hospitality hubs.

According to the new tariff, the rates effective now are Rs 5 lakh in rural areas, Rs 10 lakh in urban and Rs 12 lakh in five-star addresses.

Jharkhand has around 150 licensed bar and hotels, with 33 in Ranchi and 39 in Jamshedpur forming the lion’s share of the business.

Sajjan Saraf, state president of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce, minced no words in condemning the new fee structure.

“This hike is the state government’s autocracy. The state excise department two weeks ago suddenly passed this order without prior information to any of us stating all licences should be renewed before the new fiscal. Rates, abruptly doubled, are aimed at ruining the business of bar and hotel owners. Therefore, we decided to keep the joints closed in protest till the time the issue is resolved,” he said.

Echoing sentiments, Jamshedpur Bar and Hotel Owners’ Association, which decided to shut establishments for two days from Sunday for Ramnavami in deference to tradition, added it would also launch an indefinite strike from Tuesday as protest against the hike.

“The hike is impractical and arbitrary. Unless the state orders a rollback, shutters won’t reopen,” said member Kallu Sonkar.

Saraf said that many owners had paid taxes earlier to get their licences renewed in March. “What will their fate be? They will have to again pay a hefty sum in April which is neither possible nor fair,” he added.

Gurucharan Singh, the secretary of Jharkhand Hotels and Bar Associations, during a meeting in the capital at the chamber of commerce on Saturday, said that the steep excise slab would ultimately be a party-pooper for the common man who liked to unwind at a restaurant with a drink after a hard day’s work.

“People will stop coming to bars or visiting hotels. There are already lots of taxes levied on the common man. This will only worsen the situation,” he pointed out.

The state excise department officials, who claimed they weren’t surprised at the strike or the vehement reaction of bar and hotel associations, justified the licence fee hike on the grounds that the state needed to shore up its revenues.

Excise commissioner Shubhendra Jha defended the hike, saying it was done after a gap of eight years.

“The slab in Jharkhand was last increased in 2004. Back then, we had a revenue target of around Rs 100 crore. It now hovers between Rs 700 crore and Rs 800 crore. What else can we do? Times have changed, the fee structure ought to change too. An expert committee was formed to evaluate tax norms across other Indian states, after which we decided to double the fee slabs in Jharkhand from 2012-13,” said Jha in the capital.

In other words, if inflation hits you everywhere, why shouldn’t it knock out your drink?

In Jamshedpur, state excise department assistant commissioner Rakesh Kumar said 10 bars apart, the rest numbering 29 were adamant about not abiding by the hike.

“We had no other option but to seal them,” he said.

What about tipple supply? “Liquor shops will continue to do business as usual. The hike doesn’t hit them,” said Kumar.

For now, say cheers at home.

Is the government’s decision

to hike licence fee fair? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com