Organizers want state government to reconsider GST on garba venues

Vadodara: Swinging to garba tunes has become expensive this year. The government has imposed goods and services tax (GST) on the Navratri venues that charge entry fees from revellers. The organisers have passed on the additional cost to the revellers. But protests have already started over the taxation on garba which is one of the main identities of the cultural capital of Gujarat.
“We took the decision to impose GST on garba entry cards as the government said that organizing garba comes under the category of the service sector. Their view was that we accept fees and give entry passes to the revellers. But we used to take donations and give identity cards,” said Minesh Patel, treasurer, United Way of Baroda which organizes one of the most popular garbas in the city.
“The management decided to collect GST from the revellers has caused a major hike in the price. The government should reconsider its decision,” Patel added.
Dilip Shah, trustee of Vadodara Navratri Festival said, “We will try not to hike the entry pass amount this time. If possible, we will reduce the fee per pass and then include GST to ensure that the price of passes doesn’t go up. The government, though, should reconsider its decision as garba is a religious activity and not a service.”
Many of the garba organizers are yet to announce the price of their entry passes due to the GST hurdle. Congress city unit president Rutvij Joshi said, “Garba is the identity of Vadodara and our Navratri is famous across the globe. How can the government impose GST on garba in the cultural capital of Gujarat? The government is acting greedily.”
Joshi and other Congress leaders performed garba in the collector office premises as a mark of protest. “The so-called Hindutva government is now taxing a religious gathering. We demand that the GST on garbas be removed immediately,” Joshi added.
Mayor Keyur Rokadia said, “I and the MLAs here will be making representation to the government to not tax garba venues. But to the best of my understanding, only those venues charging more than Rs 500 per person will be affected by the rule. There are only a few such venues.” The sheri garbas and smaller venues that don’t charge entry fees won’t be affected .”