Cabinet nod to entertainment tax on DTH, cable connections

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Monday approved per-connection levy of a “nominal” entertainment tax by local bodies on local cable TV connections and direct-to-home (DTH) connections. For it, the government proposes to bring The Punjab Entertainment and Amusement Taxes (Levy and Collection by Local Bodies) Bill 2017 in the next assembly session.

In the proposal by the Navjot Singh Sidhu-led local bodies department — approved in the cabinet meet — it was suggested to cut the earlier tax of ₹60 on DTH signal services to just ₹5 per connection per month. And it plans to impose ₹2 per local cable connection. No entertainment tax, however, was proposed for cinemas, multiplexes, amusement parks and other similar places.

After the goods and services tax (GST) rollout from July 1, the entertainment tax being levied by the state government

through the department of excise and taxation stood withdrawn.

With the new tax, the government would witness a fall in revenue from the existing ₹52 crore per annum to ₹47 crore. There are at least 16 lakh DTH and 44 lakh cable connections in the state.

At present, tax from local cable connections comes only as ₹10,000 lump sum from some master players, or multi-system operators (MSO), depending on number of connections. That amounts to only a few lakhs, said officials. Now, from cable

connections alone, local bodies are expected to generate ₹37 crore.

It must be underlined that cable operations in the state are dominated by Fastway Transmissions, a firm allegedly patronised by Shiromani Akali Dal’s Badals. Sidhu said the new tax system would give teeth to the department, and a level-playing field to operators.

“With the new tax structure, the government will be able to ask them to disclose details of connections, which cable operators were hiding to evade tax,” he added.