JALANDHAR: Terming the levying of charges for access to private properties on state roads as draconian, Punjab Ekta Party president and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira has alleged that tax rates are very high and that the government has levied it silently.“Captain Amarinder Singh government has imposed the new tax unannounced and rate is as high as up to Rs 6 lakh on commercial properties along the national and state highways and link roads. This is being done in the garb of granting them access to the roads,” said Khaira, while addressing a press conference here.Providing copies of the notification issued on January 24, Khaira alleged that a tax liability of millions of rupees had been imposed on the people of Punjab without making a formal announcement or obtaining the concurrence of Vidhan Sabha.He said that Punjab PWD department has issued notices to thousands of owners of commercial properties like petrol pumps, marriage palaces, hotels, restaurants, workshops and other businesses in urban and rural areas to deposit ‘access tax’. “The process of issuing notices has begun across the state without any public debate or concurrence,” he said.However, when contacted, PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla said that it was not a new tax but non-tax revenue , provision for which was already there. “It was already there, but it was neither properly implemented nor enforced. We have now revised the rates and have issued detailed guidelines to ensure proper implementation,” he said.

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