Para Village in North Goa suspends tourist photography tax after receiving flack

Days after imposing ‘Swachhta Tax’ on tourists, the Parra village panchayat in North Goa has now scrapped the controversial tax. Earlier, it was reported that that Parra, one of the scenic villages in North Goa, also popular for being the ancestral village of former Defence Minister Late Manohar Parrikar, would be levying visitors for clicking photographs or shooting videos along the iconic road leading to the village church.
As per the said tax, the imposition of the fee on tourists ranged from INR 100 to INR 500 for taking a single photograph, and would have been termed as ‘Swachhta Tax’.

Latest reports suggest that the controversial tax received flack from stakeholders in the tourism industry, who termed this tax as a move to be ‘unfair’ and stated that this trend needs to be nipped in the bud.
The panchayat took the decision to levy the said tax as a way to deal with drunk tourists and the litter that is left behind by the visitors. Para Sarpanch Delilah Lobo said that their stopping along the church road to click photographs or shoot videos often resulted in disturbing the traffic flow.
Lobo further added that the tax was imposed for the upkeep of the village panchayat. However, after the tax was imposed, Parra panchayat’s move was criticised by some; also, a video showing tourists complaining about the tax had gone viral. As a result, Lobo stated that they are now temporarily suspending the tax as they do not want Goa to get a bad name.