In the wake of Goods and Services Tax (GST) for food industry being brought down to 5 per cent, Tamil Nadu Bar, Hotel and Club Owners Association have urged the Central Government to review the tax on star hotels.

At the annual meeting of the association, members thanked the Prime Minister and the Food Minister for the GST reduction.

Association president Benze Saravanan presided over the meeting that took up issues faced by members.

In a statement, the association said though GST for the food industry had been reduced, star hotels continued to pay 28 per cent tax and this needed to be halved.

Currently, there is no independent Commissioner for the excise department in the State and the Managing Director of TASMAC holds additional charge. The association will be requesting the government to appoint a commissioner.

Coimbatore, the second biggest city in Tamil Nadu with a good tourist flow, does not have licence for sale of draught beer, the association said and the State Government should consider granting such a licence in all districts, it added.

Like in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra, bar timings should be extended up to 2 am, it said. There was the needed to improve standards and a report on this would be submitted to the Central and State Governments.