The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday burdened the common man by hiking Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel prices.
The Jagan government hiked VAT on petrol prices by Rs 1.24 per litre and Rs 0.93 per litre on diesel prices. The hike in VAT comes at a time when the common man is already grappling with low income due to the Covid-19 imposed lockdown.
Revenue special chief secretary Rajat Bhargav attributed the hike in VAT on fuel prices to dwindling revenues following the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown.
He said in April last year, the government could mop up Rs 4,480 crore. Due to the lockdown, the revenues sharply declined by 29.5 per cent to Rs 1,323 crore. The government had to hike the VAT in order to shore up the revenues, Rajat Bhargav stated.
