Visakhapatnam: With the GVMC contractors strike reaching its 10th day on Saturday, people are getting worried over several ongoing projects in the city being put on hold.
Members of GVMC Contractors’ Association have been participating in relay hunger strike to protest against the hiccups in implementation of Goods and Services Tax.
The GVMC has been making only part payments to the contractors since GST rollout. Moreover, there has been a dip in their profits with the increased GST rates when compared to the rates during value-added tax regime.
According to the association members, the GVMC authorities are paying only 85 per cent of the overall cost of a project. As a result, the rest of bill is recovered with 12-16 per cent GST added. Earlier, the GVMC used to deduct only 4 per cent of VAT. They claimed that the new tax regime has burdened the contractors.
GVMC Contractors’ Association convener Rajana Venkatarao said that the municipal body has failed to sort out various issues of the contractors. Apart from clearance of bills and GST impact, the contractors have been suffering due to shortage in sand supply. The GVMC authorities are not bothered about this, say contractors.
Mr Venkatrao said: “The civic body prepares estimates on the basis of free sand policy, while we have been paying Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 per load of sand. Though we have intimated about the strike to the GVMC commissioner, there was no response. We are demanding for immediate release of bill amounts.”
