Bars losing Rs 100 crore per day after the ban

The ban on dance bars in Maharashtra has cost the dance bars close to Rs 1,100 crore since it came into effect on August 15.

"The dance bar industry is losing nearly Rs 100 crore everyday in sales and related business," said Manjith Singh Sethi, president, Association of Hotels and Restaurant.

There are close to 1,300 dance bars in Maharashtra, of which around 650 are in Mumbai. Ninety eight per cent of the bars have been shut down after the imposition of the ban, barring a few which braved the ban and opened for business since then, Sethi added.

Dance bar owners have also approached the Bombay High Court challenging the Mumbai police (Amendment) Bill, 2005, banning the bars. Their petition will come up for hearing on Monday.

While the government claims it will lose only Rs eight crore in revenue, bar owners say that tax collections from Maharashtra's 1,300 dance bars amount to nearly Rs 1,500 crore.

The bars pay a plethora of taxes: Entertainment tax of Rs 30,000 per month to the collectorate, performance license fees of Rs 15,000 per month to the Police, excise license fee of Rs 75,000 per year to the excise department, a BMC tax of Rs 23,000 per year and a Police license fees (Rs 10,000 per year), said Pravin Agrawal, treasurer, Bar Owners Association. Apart from these, sales tax averages Rs 10,000 per month.

"The ban has rendered two lakh people including 75,000 bar girls jobless. Most of the people working in dance bars are the sole earners in their families. How can they survive without job?" asked Pravin Agrawal.

On an average a bar girl earns between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 a month. And on festive occasion like Diwali and New Year, this amount can even shoot up to a lakh.

Of the 75,000 bar girls in the state, nearly 50 per cent are based in Mumbai.