A New Nation Report :
Absence of a set of policy rules in respect of issuance of hotels’ bar license has created a scope for middlemen to carry on moneymaking business working in collusion with some dishonest government officials of the Narcotics Control Department. Resultantly, government’s revenue earning too is often delayed. With the passage of time the demand for bribe or speed money is increasing. Interestingly, the hoteliers or the hotel owners have no way of knowing how much of money is demanded by the officials of the Narcotics Control Department and what inflated amounts are demanded by the middlemen. The officials of the Narcotics Control Department too have no way of knowing how much of money the middlemen extract from the hoteliers in the name of giving them either.
Investigations revealed that the hoteliers who refused to oblige the middlemen or the narcotics officials or pressurise otherwise (by engaging influential people) had to wait years after years to obtain bar license and pay VAT on sales of alcoholic drinks. For example, Hotel Rajmoni Ishakha at Kakrail that was launched in 1994 did not engage any middleman for obtaining bar license. They had to wait for long seventeen to eighteen years to get bar license. After getting bar license they now pay a few lakh Taka worth of VAT on sale of alcoholic drinks every month.
Middlemen have reportedly been engaged for issuance of bar license for two international standard hotels in Dhaka. Some narcotics officials are reportedly demanding BDT one crore from each for issuance of bar license.
At the moment, the set policy rule is that for eligibility of getting bar license a hotel or resort has to have at least 100 guest rooms. The owners of Gulshan-2’s Lake Shore and Kawran Bazar’s Best Western La Vinci are lucky because they got their bar licenses issued before the Ministry of Aviation and Tourism made the new policy rule. Both Lake Shore and La Vinci hotels are 50-60 guest-roomed hotels.
Absence of a set of policy rules in respect of issuance of hotels’ bar license has created a scope for middlemen to carry on moneymaking business working in collusion with some dishonest government officials of the Narcotics Control Department. Resultantly, government’s revenue earning too is often delayed. With the passage of time the demand for bribe or speed money is increasing. Interestingly, the hoteliers or the hotel owners have no way of knowing how much of money is demanded by the officials of the Narcotics Control Department and what inflated amounts are demanded by the middlemen. The officials of the Narcotics Control Department too have no way of knowing how much of money the middlemen extract from the hoteliers in the name of giving them either.
Investigations revealed that the hoteliers who refused to oblige the middlemen or the narcotics officials or pressurise otherwise (by engaging influential people) had to wait years after years to obtain bar license and pay VAT on sales of alcoholic drinks. For example, Hotel Rajmoni Ishakha at Kakrail that was launched in 1994 did not engage any middleman for obtaining bar license. They had to wait for long seventeen to eighteen years to get bar license. After getting bar license they now pay a few lakh Taka worth of VAT on sale of alcoholic drinks every month.
Middlemen have reportedly been engaged for issuance of bar license for two international standard hotels in Dhaka. Some narcotics officials are reportedly demanding BDT one crore from each for issuance of bar license.
At the moment, the set policy rule is that for eligibility of getting bar license a hotel or resort has to have at least 100 guest rooms. The owners of Gulshan-2’s Lake Shore and Kawran Bazar’s Best Western La Vinci are lucky because they got their bar licenses issued before the Ministry of Aviation and Tourism made the new policy rule. Both Lake Shore and La Vinci hotels are 50-60 guest-roomed hotels.
