New Delhi, May 5 (IANS): Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Ajay Maken on Tuesday condemned the Delhi governments move to hike the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel in the national capital and demanded immediate roll back of the same.

The Delhi government, in an order dated May 4, announced to increase the VAT on petrol to 30 per cent from the existing 27 per cent and that on diesel to 30 per cent from the existing 16.75 per cent. As a result, the prices of petrol and diesel have gone up by Rs 1.67 and Rs 7.10, respectively

According to Delhi government officials, the move to hike the VAT on fuel prices is expected to boost the government's revenues, which have been hit hard due to the coronavirus induced lockdown.

Maken, who is also the national spokesperson of the Congress, said in a video statement, "The Congress condemns the unprecedented hike in VAT on petrol and diesel to 30 per cent from 27 per cent on petrol and 16.5 per cent on diesel in Delhi. We demand immediate roll back of this hike."

Slamming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, he said that during the Congress regime, VAT on petrol was 20 per cent and that on diesel was 12.5 per cent.

"Moreover, the VAT Act, 2004 during the Congress regime capped the VAT at 20 per cent for petrol and diesel," the Congress leader, who was also a minister in the Sheila Dikshit government in the national capital, said.

He said that soon after coming to power in 2015, the AAP government had amended the act to increase the cap to 30 per cent. Hitting out at the ruling AAP and the BJP, he alleged that despite the public display of being at loggerheads, the Lt Governor and the Union government, representing the BJP, gave assent to this Bill within two weeks and notified it on July 14, 2015.

"Citizens seeking relief in the form of cash and tax cuts are meted out with this treatment, which is a shame. Nowhere in the world, any government would have inflicted such hardships on its citizens," he added.

On Monday night, the Delhi government had also ordered to impose a 70 per cent 'Special Corona Fee' cess on liquor. On Sunday, while announcing the relaxation in the lockdown, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that his government was finding it difficult pay salaries to the staff due to a revenue loss of Rs 3,200 crore in April, compared to the previous year.