NGO protests against pet registration tax

Ludhiana: Members of NGO Yuva staged a protest outside zone A office of the MC against imposition of pet registration tax by the civic body, on Tuesday. Kumar Gaurav, an NGO member, posed as a sick person on oxygen support due to so many taxes sans any facility. He claimed that for lack of basic facilities the officials blamed poor financial condition despite the fact that so many taxes had already been imposed on the common man.
He said, “Property, water supply and sewerage taxes all are fine because for development of a city the civic body needs funds. The income tax is also fine. But under the garb of pet registration the civic body has introduced cat and dog tax in the city.” He said they had been paying cow cess on various services but even after collecting a large amount of cow cess the civic body failed to solve the problem of stray cattle and many people are still becoming victims of accidents.
He said they were not against imposition of taxes but the authorities need to understand whether at this time residents had the ability to pay the tax or not. He said due to coronavirus every business had got affected. He said now the civic body was asking people to pay Rs 400 every year for keeping pets at home and in case that pet bites anybody then the owner would face the consequences.
Meanwhile, many people were gathering at the spot to see what was going one. They thought some person was actually in need of help but then moved back inside when they realised it was part of a protest.