Hyderabad: Former minister and BRS Deputy Floor Leader Harish Rao on Monday demanded that the Telangana government announce a VAT cut on petrol and diesel to provide relief to people facing rising living costs.
In an open letter addressed to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Harish Rao accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil its election promises on reducing fuel prices.
He said poor families, middle-class households, farmers, transport operators, small traders and salaried employees were struggling because of rising petrol and diesel prices.
Harish Rao stated that petrol prices in Hyderabad reached Rs. 115.62 per litre, while diesel prices touched Rs. 103.76 per litre.
According to him, repeated fuel price increases also resulted in huge additional VAT collections for the Telangana government.
He claimed Telangana could receive nearly Rs. 2,000 crore in additional annual VAT revenue because fuel taxes were linked to price increases.
VAT cut on petrol demanded by Harish Rao
Harish Rao alleged that the government was earning massive revenues through higher fuel taxes while people struggled with inflation and increasing household expenses.
He reminded Revanth Reddy that during his tenure as PCC president, he criticised the previous BRS government over VAT on fuel.
According to Harish Rao, the Congress party repeatedly promised to reduce fuel taxes before coming to power.
However, he alleged that the Congress government had not reduced VAT even by 0.1 percent after assuming office.
The BRS leader stated that a government claiming to believe in “Praja Palana” should not burden people with high fuel taxes.
VAT cut on petrol linked to Congress promises
Harish Rao demanded that the Telangana government immediately reduce VAT on petrol and diesel by at least 10 percent.
He said the government must decide whether it stood with suffering people or with higher tax collections.
A copy of the letter was also sent to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Harish Rao requested Rahul Gandhi to advise the Telangana Chief Minister to fulfil the Congress party’s promises regarding reduction of VAT on fuel.