OAA UP files case against govt for hiking tax for outdoor media owners

Following UP Government's revised rule in tax structure, including major hike and other stringent regulations for outdoor media owners, the Outdoor Advertising Association (OAA), Uttar Pradesh chapter, has filed case in the High Court for re-structuring it in their favour. The rules that were amended in 2009 were further revised in December 2014 and re-structured this year.

Explaining more on the revised policy, Anil Kumar, Director- Shobha Publicity, Lucknow and VP, OAA - UP Chapter, commented, "We have received the price hike in a span as short as within a year. Not only has there has been a price hike but if you look at the revised policies, they are a deterrent in blooming our business. The whole town was previously categorized by sections like prohibited, super premium and then followed up by A, B, and C categories. The tax structure was different from one category to another. For example, the 2 km stretch between Parivartan Chowk to MG Marg in Lucknow used to come under the most premium category, for which we had to pay highest amount of tax. Now they have taken most parts of the town under that category and we are liable to pay similar tax for any other part as well. Almost the entire city is now coming under the most premium category.”

Adding to this, the duration of paying tax has also been revised from only display period to a minimum of one year. "Our clients also comprise a good chunk from Delhi and Mumbai. Hence, we have stiff competition as the amount of payable tax is nearly similar to those metro cities. Earlier, the display period was only taken under consideration, but according to the new law, the minimum period that we have to pay tax for is one year. This policy is sure to have adverse effect on our business,” Kumar added.