The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), India’s premier hospitality association, has praised the fresh relief measures announced by the Hon’ble Finance Minister recently.
The National Hospitality Association has asked the government to take appropriate steps to make the recently announced initiatives more successful in their implementation by establishing a redress mechanism to alleviate system bottlenecks.
The industry is currently unable to service the loans due to a lack of cash flow, as well as statutory liabilities and operating expenses, according to the report.
The short-term financing plans are insufficient to address the sector’s deeper problems. The FHRAI has also emphasized the importance of concentrating on developing domestic tourism in the country.
“The FHRAI thanks the Government for sanctioning Rs.60,000 Cr under the 1.1 lakh Cr Guarantee Scheme for COVID19 affected sectors as well as for provisioning an additional 1.5 lakh Cr under the ECLGS.
We request the Government to undertake measures to make the already announced schemes more effective such as setting up a redressal mechanism to resolve complaints against banks, making a separate resolution framework for hospitality, providing similar tenor and moratorium facilities for ECLGS 1.0 & 2.0 as of ECLGS 3.0.
The two successive waves of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have caused colossal damage to the industry and hence we request the Government to extend the tenor of the Loan Guarantee Scheme for at least 10 years and also offer direct grants to the Hospitality sector as the revival of the sector is extremely difficult without any direct support from the Government,”
says Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.
The FHRAI applauded the government’s move to provide free tourist visas to 5 lakh people. It claims that the measure will re-ignite the tourism industry and encourage foreign visitors to the country once the situation has stabilized.
“We are happy to note that the disastrous state of affairs of the sector and the plight of millions of workforce employed in the sector are recognized. To issue 5 lakh tourist visas free of cost is a great way to attract international tourists to India and is a welcome move. However, under the prevailing circumstances, it may take some time before impositions are eased and for FTAs to resume. Meanwhile, the Government should focus on reviving domestic tourism and undertake special measures for its promotion as an immediate step.
We request that the threshold limit for charging GST at 18 per cent on hotel room tariffs be raised from the present Rs.7500/- to Rs.9500/- for bringing parity of rates between the Rupee and the Dollar. Also, the threshold limit for zero GST for hotel rooms should be raised from the present Rs.1000/- to Rs.2000/- per room per day.
The move will boost the lower budget segment, thus encouraging domestic travel and promoting the tourism sector in a big way. Also allowing valid GST hotel bills of any State other than the home State of the Individual assessee paid for by digital mode exempt under section 80C for an additional amount of Rs50,000/- will encourage citizens to travel within India which will further give a much-needed impetus to hotels as well as ancillary industries.
With restricted foreign travel, the promotion of domestic tourism is the need of the hour. Therefore, we request the Government to incentivize domestic tourism as well,”
concludes Mr Pradeep Shetty, Jt. Hon. Sec., FHRAI.
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