BAN plea to govt on illegal taxation

Business Association of Nagas (BAN) has again expressed serious concern over the continued illegal collection of money and urged upon the state government to come up with strong laws and stringent measures “to curb the evil of collection of money” without legal sanction by anyone involved.
In a press release, BAN president L Mongkum Jamir and general secretary Dr. Yan Murry said that the “long prevailing evils of illegal collection of money” by various groups, organisations and governmental agencies continue to haunt the business community in Nagaland including those involved in inter-state transportation of goods.
BAN pointed out that ACAUT (Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation), PAC (Public Action Committees) and BAN (Business Association of Nagas) and other organisations, for decades, have been raising the issue and pleading the state government to protect the rights and interest of the affected persons, facing constant harassment and torture while transporting goods and conducting businesses.
BAN lamented that nothing has been done by the government to ease the sufferings of the affected despite the hue and cry.
It also claimed that there were evidence of vehicles transporting goods being imposed with tax based on the number of wheels in the trucks, by various organisations and government agencies. (See pics on p-8)
BAN said this was the reason why “transportation cost to Dimapur is 100% to 400% higher compared to the cost in places with similar topography.
Due to artificial cost on transportation, BAN said every item imported becomes more expensive and ultimately affects the prices of all essential products and increases cost of living. BAN said it was high time that the government devise monitoring mechanisms to safeguard the fundamental rights of the business communities to facilitate overall development in the state and to control inflation of goods and services.
Further, BAN also appealed to the state government to make practical policies to make provision for the aggrieved persons to address their grievances by maintaining an online portal for registering complaints.
BAN also suggested making provisions for appointment of Ombudsman to look into such complaints and also setting up CCTV in all existing check gates and take appropriate legal action against the offenders.