MANGALURU
Managements of hostels and owners of paying guest accommodations in the city are unhappy about the decision of the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) to impose 12 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on them.
PG and hostel service providers shared that most of the hostel and PG facilities in the city are affordable. There is no cut when it comes to PGs. Levying GST, which is automatically passed on to the inmates, will burden them financially, they said.
In the city, most of the PGs charge less than Rs 6,000 per month for accommodation. The students who avail of it hail from poor families, and even working men or women staying in PG accomodations get paltry salaries. How can they afford to pay GST on that ” asked Imtiyaz, the owner of Mazza Hostel and PG near Kodialbail. Imtiyaz said that he charges Rs 5,500 per month, including food, from each inmate. If I have to impose GST, then the per month charge is likely to increase to Rs 6,160, he added.
Reuben, who runs a PG for working women and students near Kankanady, without providing food, said that there is confusion about whether a facility that does not serve food, comes under the ambit of GST or not. If we come under GST, we will send feelers to our inmates regarding the same, he said. Meanwhile, the city has a lot of PGs that run without licences and are unregulated. It is true that I run an unregulated facility and hold no licence. Yet, I follow all rules, including collecting details about the inmates. It is done to earn my livelihood. There are several others like me, he said.
