PATHANAMTHITTA: Building owners reeling under various taxes are being pressured to pay huge sums in the name of the labour welfare fund. The money is being asked from the building owners under the Kerala Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996. A percentage of the total construction cost based on the area of the building is to be paid to the labour department, failing which legal action will be taken. The owners of the building who received the notice say that the tax is being levied for something that has nothing to do with them.
The builders of houses and other buildings give labour contracts or hire workers on daily wages. The Labor Department is sending notices to the owners asking them to pay the Labor Welfare Fund Cess after years of completion of the construction. Those who built houses 10 years ago received a notice from the labour department the other day. The tax is to be paid within 20 days.
40,000 (1%) for Rs.40 lakhs
The labour department is collecting the tax saying it is for the welfare of construction workers. The Department of Labor unofficially estimates that 80% of those working in this sector are migrant workers. A large number of them are not permanent workers in this sector or registered with the welfare fund. They do not work permanently under any contractor. A percentage of the construction cost is being demanded despite all this.
"The tax amount is used for the welfare of registered workers. If an unregistered other state worker dies in an accident, the labour department will bear the cost of sending his dead body home."
-Labour Department officials
Fees during construction of building