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Cable TV operators in the metro city of Mumbai are on a two day strike to protest against a hike of 100 per cent in the Entertainment Tax levied by the government.
This move by the cable operators was after they failed to constitutionally bar the Government of Maharashtra from increasing the entertainment tax levied on them. The cable operators had earlier petitioned in the Bombay High Court that the Maharashtra government which had promulgated the tax through an ordinance and later legislated it trough the state legislature was unfair to them as the tax on entertainment should be charged on TV set owners and that they were only being made the government collection agents.
The government is charging the cable operators per TV set at the rate of Rs 30 in municipal limits and cantonments, Rs20 in all ‘A‘ and ‘B‘ class municipal councils and Rs 10 in other areas, an increase of 100 per cent from the earlier rates of Rs 15, Rs 10 and Rs 5. However the High Court citing past Supreme Court judgements said that the state legislature had legislative competence to enact the duty as entertainment was a taxable event. The court also dismissed the cable operator‘s petition saying that all businesses are subject to taxation and Cable TV operators are no exception.
