Says sky high fee hurting industry

The hotel industry has yet again made an immediate plea to the government of Andhra Pradesh to lower what it calls an exorbitant bar license fees being charged in Andhra Pradesh to star category hotels.

As per the current norms star category hotels (3 star & above) are charged an annual bar license fee of Rs 60 lakhs which the industry says is unheard of when compared to other states in India. 

‘This is the highest in India’ said Mr Pavan Kartheek, Vice President HRAAP & Secretary, AP tourism forum speaking to Vizag Industrial Scan. 

Similarly, Mr Vijay Mohan, President of the AP tourism forum said that this highly priced bar license fee is negatively affecting the industry and thereby making AP lose business to neighbouring states like Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu which have a far lower license fee.

‘With these exorbitant bar license rates 10 well known hotels in Andhra Pradesh have withdrawn their bar license’ said Mr Vijay Mohan. Currently, there are a total of 37-star category hotels in Andhra Pradesh. 

In a representation given to the minister of Excise Mr  Kollu Ravindra by both the Hotels and restaurant association of AP(HRAAP) and AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry (APCCIF) have urged the government to lower this to Rs 6 lakhs in order to boost tourism and the overall hospitality industry in Andhra Pradesh.

‘We respectfully request that the license to all classified hotels (3 star and above) be given under    TD-1 norms under existing rate Rs 6 lakhs per year and that the option to establish microbreweries be offered at no additional cost,’ said Mr Kartheek.

Elaborating further he revealed that states with lower bar license fees for classified hotels (3 star and above) have higher no of classified hotels, create a conducive environment for business, organise more MICE (i.e. Meetinqs, lncentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) events and even collect higher GST collections. ‘This results in a 14%+ growth in GSDP’ opined Mr Kartheek.