A parliamentary panel led by BJP MP Ramesh Bias has asked the Central Government to bring under the ambit of service tax private tour operators (PTOs), who have been allocated Haj quota to arrange Haj piligrimage. Presently, there are 484 PTOs registered across the country who have been allocated Haj quota.
Expressing surprise that why these PTOs have been exempted from paying service tax for all these years, the panel wanted imposition of service tax on the PTOs and asked them to furnish their annual turnover.
last year, the work related to management of Haj pilgrimage including administration of the Haj Committee was transferred from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Minority Affairs to have a better focus.
In its report tabled in Parliament recently, the Committee also expressed surprise that of the total 484 PTOs registered across the country, 183 were from Maharashtra itself while only one was from Jharkhand.
“The Committee do not understand why Maharashtra should have a monopoly and maximum people should go to Maharashtra first to visit Haj,” said the report.
The panel also desired that the PTOs from smaller States should also be registered for Haj quota so that Hajis are able to contact PTOs in their own States/UTs and need not go to Maharashtra which causes inconvenience to them. Needless to say, the Committee desire that if need be, the quota of PTOs may also be increased.
According to reports, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala are in top three States where there is much rush for the pilgrimage. A total quota of 36,000 seats is granted to private operators in the country, under the present rules.
The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and considered as a mandatory religious duty for them that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime.