The introduction of user charges for permission to hold events including Bihu functions, street plays and political programmes has drawn the ire of opposition political parties in Assam, which have referred to these charges as ‘colonial-style’ taxes.

A notification dated November 15 issued by the Home Department stated the Assam Government had revised its user charges and service fees for “citizen centric service delivery” through an Assam police portal for online services called ‘Assam Police Sewa Setu’.

Under these changes, permission or no objection certificates (NOC) for political events such as rallies, programmes, meetings and conferences will be Rs 2,400. The permission and NOC charges for cultural events such as Bihu functions and other cultural programmes and processions will be Rs 300 while RS 500 will be charged for “social awareness events” such as awareness rallies and street plays. For sports events such as marathons, rallies and ‘all types of sports’, the charge will be Rs 2,000.

Permission for ‘religious events’ such as pujas and religious processions continue to be free of cost along with other services on the portal such as e-complaints and FIRs, Passport Seva and public grievance redressal.

Some of the other charges include Rs 3,000 for permission for drones, Rs1,000 for police clearance to set up a petrol pump and gas agency, Rs 50,000 for police clearance for commercial constructions in Guwahati city and Rs 25,000 for the rest of the state.

On Thursday, the united front of opposition political parties in Assam held a protest in Guwahati against these charges. Across different political parties, leaders referred to the charges as ‘colonial’ in nature.

“This government’s image is more fearful than that of the British East India company. It is as if we are living in a colonial system… If you want to felicitate a cultural figure, you will have to pay a tax; you want to call someone to work in your house, you have to pay a tax; if you have a citizens’ meeting, a street play, you have to pay a tax,” said Assam Jatiya Parishad leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi.

“No citizen of Assam can ever accept this tax collection. It is very unfortunate, that there is a tax on every work of ours…. It is shocking that someone has to pay a tax to organise a Bihu programme,” said Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma dismissed the attack by Opposition parties claiming the amount collected is much smaller than the amount being distributed by the government to hold cultural events.

“If we charge Rs 300 for processing a permission, it is important to note that we are allocating nearly Rs 50 crore this year for organising our traditional cultural festivals,” he said.