(28 December 2009 11:53 am)

NEW DELHI: Direct-to-Home (DTH) subscribers in Delhi have been brought under the entertainment tax regime in Delhi.

This decision was taken by the Delhi Cabinet in a meeting held earlier this month presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. A draft amendment Bill was cleared at this meeting for levying entertainment tax on DTH subscribers and it was slated to come into effect from this month itself.

The residential DTH subscribers will have to pay Rs 20 more per connection on a monthly basis while the entertainment tax would be as high as Rs 50 for the commercial subscribers. Subscribers of cable TV are already paying entertainment tax in Delhi.

Interestingly, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry appears to be unaware of this, as a reply in Parliament on 21 December said only seven states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Goa, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Maharashtra - were levying entertainment tax on DTH subscribers varying between Rs 15 to Rs 45 in some states and on percentage basis between six per cent to 30 per cent in others.