ADTOI Approaches Govt To Rationalise Service Tax On Tour Packages

Jyoti Koul - New Delhi

The new office bearers of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) on behalf of the industry have approached the ministry of tourism (MoT) to recognise the domestic tour operators at par with inbound tour operators. The association demands that there should be a special category for domestic tour operators. This move has been initiated to achieve a status of 'credibility' and 'authorisation' for domestic tour operators in the market. This is also being initiated to eliminate touts and malpractices.

Mukesh Jagga We are demanding that the current service tax structure of 4.08 per cent should be reduced to 1.02 per cent

Mukesh Jagga, who recently took over as president of the association, has charted out a priority list. "Ever since I have taken over, there are few urgent things on my agenda, apart from getting recognition from the government of India, we are planning to conduct road shows in various parts of the country. To begin with, we are planning to rganise a road show in Delhi and currently, are in the process of finalising the dates and other details. These road shows are being organised with the sole purpose of creating awareness about domestic tourism and our target audiences are both trade and consumers," informed Jagga. The association is also aggressively pursuing the issue of service tax. In order to sort things out, the association recently organised interactive sessions on service tax with senior officials of customs, central excises and service tax officials. During the interactive session Nisha Malhotra, chief commissioner and Bipin Sapra, joint commissioner, customs, central excise and service tax deliberated on the application of provisions of service tax rules related to travel and tourism. The association also demanded that the service tax on selling tour packages should be rationalised. "We are demanding that the current service tax structure of 4.08 per cent should be reduced to 1.02 per cent. We have taken up this issue with the concerned authorities who at this point of time are very supportive and we are hopeful that there would be some relief in this tax system soon," added Jagga. The association is also channelising its efforts to make domestic tour packages up to the limit of Rs one lakh tax-free.