Shimla, Jan 28 (PTI) A tourism industry association on Saturday criticised the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam (SJPN) for hiking the water tariff for the hotel industry in the city, describing the move as the last nail in the coffin of the crisis-ridden sector.
The SJPNL on Friday increased water charges for commercial establishments including hotels and restaurants from Rs 87.85 per kilolitre to Rs 96.64 per kilolitre for consumption up to 30 kilolitres and from Rs 126.50 per kilolitre to Rs 177.14 per kilolitre for consumption above 75 kilolitres.
The SJPN has again hiked the tariff for commercial institutions and hotels by ten per cent and it seems to be bent upon ruining the industry in Shimla as about 300 hotels would be affected by the hike, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association president M K Seth said.
Accusing the SJPN of being harsh towards the hotel industry, Seth said the Nigam may have maintained that the hike was as per orders of the high court but the court nowhere said that a separate category of water tariff be created for hotels and the highest tariff charged from them.
“The court has neither allowed the SJPN to charge the highest rates from hotels, which is 67.5 per cent higher than the commercial tariff, nor create a special category for hotels,” he said.
Bed-and-breakfast units are also making profits but are being charged the domestic tariff, Seth said, adding that 41.25 per cent hotels in Shimla have less than 10 rooms and should be charged the domestic tariff. Hotels with more than 10 rooms should be charged the commercial tariff, he told PTI.
The SJPNL, formed in 2018, had originally planned to hike the water tariff by 10 per cent annually, but the rates have been increased only once so far, in 2019. There was no revision after that due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. PTI BPL IJT
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