Licence fee for restro-bars to go up

Kolkata: In a revision of the licence fee for restro-bars, it is going to increase from the month of April.

According to the sources, the licence fee for restro-bars in municipal corporation, municipality and panchayat area will be increased.

Sources said the licence fee for seven municipal corporations including Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will be increased 10 times. At present, the licence fee for restro-bars in corporation areas is Rs 50,000 in a year. With the implementation of the revised rate of the licence fee, owners of the resto-bars in the areas under the jurisdiction of the seven corporations will have to pay Rs 5 lakh for the same.

Similarly, there will also be a revision of the licence fee for the restro-bars or bars situated in municipality areas. The licence fee for the restro-bars in the municipality areas will be increased by 5 times from April 1 onwards, sources said. If everything goes as planned, then the fee will increase to Rs 2 lakh per year which stands at Rs 40,000 at present.

In case of the restro-bars or bars in panchayat areas, the owners have to pay three times more than the existing fee structure. At present, each of the restro-bars needs to pay Rs 20,000 per annum for the licence. The amount would go up to Rs 60,000 with the decision to implement the revised structure of

the licence fee.

It is learnt that a target to increase the excise revenue has been set to Rs 10,500 crore in the current fiscal and it is the reason behind increasing the licence fee for the restro-bars.

The revision in the structure of the licence fee will ensure an increase in the excise revenue.