"All car and bus services to corporates, IT, BPO companies and others would be suspended indefinitely till our demands are met," association president NK Sultania said in a statement demanding the government withdraw its decision by June 4.
There are about 51,000 cabs and 10,000 buses operating in Andhra Pradesh providing direct and indirect employment to over 1 million people. The cab and bus operators, according to the Centre's rules, are paying service, road and life tax. The additional VAT with effect from April 1, 2003, is thus unjustified, he said.
"This proposal to levy VAT amounts to dual taxation,'' said association general secretary Syed Nizamuddin adding the cab and bus operators were already battling the increase in fuel, vehicle and maintenance costs. The VAT proposal would mean a burden of Rs 200 crore to 300 crore for these five years and would be about Rs 150 crore annually. Andhra Pradesh is the only state to impose life tax on commercial vehicles in the luxury tourism taxi category, he stated.
