Congress promises industry status for travel operators

Hyderabad: Accusing the TRS government of completely neglecting the problems of cab drivers and travel operators, the Congress party promised to accord Industry status to tour and travel business in Telangana State.

Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, TPCC spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin said the travel industry in Telangana was worth over Rs 10,000 crore and it was only behind manufacturing and Information Technology (IT) in terms of providing employment. Despite being in such a large size in terms of revenues, operations and manpower, the travel industry remained in a state of neglect under the TRS regime, he alleged.

Nizamuddin said there are some one lakh drivers working in Greater Hyderabad as owner-cum-drivers, especially for aggregators like Uber and Ola. However, both Uber and Ola allegedly exploit the drivers by not paying them the promised incentives like business of Rs 1.5 lakh per month.

As against the demand for 10,000 vehicles, they engage over 70,000 cabs which reduce the revenues and incentives for all. He said thousands of drivers, who purchased vehicles on high interest loans, were pushed into financial crisis.

Citing an instance, he said during the previous Congress regime, on receiving a representation from the associations, the then Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy withdrew orders on imposition of Life Tax on Indica Cars although it caused a revenue loss of Rs 65 crore to the government.

Similarly, the previous Congress government waived off Rs 350 crore towards VAT by changing its implementation from retrospective effect to perspective effect. He said the Congress always encouraged the tour and travel industry and it was proactive in resolving its problems.