DTH operators brought under entertainment tax net

The Orissa cabinet today decided to bring the Direct-to-Home (DTH) operators in the state into entertainment tax net. The move is mooted to bring them in parity with the cable operators.

The meeting chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik put its seal of approval for a proposal moved by the state finance department to impose 5 percent entertainment tax on the gross revenue of the DTH operators.

An amendment in the Orissa Entertainment Tax, 2006 will be brought in the state assembly soon to give effect to this decision, said chief secretary Tarunkanti Mishra. Giving details of the measure, finance secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatar said, the assessment of the exact number of DTH customers in the state is yet to be done. But an estimate put the DTH customers at 35,000 by January 2008. Keeping in view the growth in the DTH subscriber base, it is expected to bring revenue of Rs 7-8 lakhs per month to the state exchequer.

Energy secretary P K Jena said, the scheme will cost Rs 37.6 crore to the state government. The scheme, to be implemented from 2010-11, will cover three Corporations, 32 Municipalities and 69 Notified Area Councils (NACs). While each corporation will be provided Rs 1 crore each, the municipalities would be given Rs 50 lakh and the NACs Rs 30 lakh each per year to take up the work. Similarly, the cabinet approved an amendment in the guidelines of the Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana, raising the ceiling for electrification of hamlets under the scheme.

Hence, the maximum ceiling for electrification for a hamlet would be Rs 4.5 lakh compared to Rs 3.5 lakh earlier. The ceiling for hilly and tribal areas has been raised to Rs 6 lakh. This is expected to remove a major hurdle in electrification of hilly and tribal villages which couldn’t be electrified earlier. On the other hand, the District Electricity Committees (DECs) headed by the Collectors has been empowered to divert the funds earmarked for energisation of lift irrigation points which are not feasible. Another proposal moved by the state housing and urban development department to launch a new scheme called “Piyush’ for supply of water to the poor families living in the urban areas was also approved.

Under the scheme, every BPL family will be provided with one water tap. The beneficiaries will have to give Rs 500 for a connection. While the water rate will be Rs 30 per month, it is proposed to be raised by 5 percent every year.

Similarly, the cabinet approved a simplified amnesty scheme to convert illegal water connections into legal connection.

Under it, the people having illegal connection will pay Rs 500 as one time penalty and a fee of Rs 3000 for a connection. However, this fee can be paid in 12, 24 and 36 installments.