 the terminal tax on railway passengers bill, 1956(as introduced in loic sabra)  the terminal tax on railway passengers bill, i956 (as introduced in lok sabha)a bill to provide for the levy of a terminal tar on passengers carried by railway from or to certain places of pilgrimage or "-'here fairs, melas or exhibitions are held be it enacted by parliament in the seventh year of the republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the terminal tax on railway short title] extent add passengers act, 1956 commencement (2) it extends to the whole of india 5 (3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint definitions 2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,-(a) "maximum rates"· mean the rates of terminal tax 10 specified in the schedule; (ib) "mela" means a public gathering on the occassion of any religious festival; 15 (c) "notified place" means a place of pilgrimage or a place where a fair, mela or exhibition is being or is likely to be held, which the central government has, by notification in the official gazette, declared to be a notified place for the purposes of this act; , of 18510 (d) "railway administration" has the meaning assigned to it in the indi~m railways act, 1890 - terminal 3 (1) subject to the other provisions contained in this act, there =:rsp'sshall be l~vied on all passengers carried by railway from or to any carried bit notified place a terminal tax in respect of every railway ticket :~~~oj:j (whether single or return) at such rates not exceeding the maximum places rates as the central government may, by not;fication in the official s gazette, fix; and such notification'shall specify the date with effect from which, and may also specify the period for which the terminal tax shall be leviable: provided that where no such period is specified in the notification, the terminal tax shall be leviable for so long as this act is in force 10 (2) subject to the maximum rates, different rates of terminal tax may be fixed,-(a) in relation to different notified places; and (fb) in respect of short-distance passengers and long·distance passengers; provided that the rate in respect of short-distance is passengers shall be always lower than that in respect of longdistance passengers expzanation-in this subt-section a passenger travelling by ra~lway from or to any notified pl'ace to or from a distance of not more than one hundred and fifty miles shall be deemed to be a 20 short-distance passenger and any other passenger travelling by railway shall be deemed to be a long-distance passenger termldal tax 4 no terminal tax sha1l be levied on any passenger travelling notto be  i t t·ft d 1 to f '1 levied within by railway l·rom or 0 any no i e pace  or rom any ral way u:utain station situated within a raddus of forty miles from that notified 2s ti place or within such shorter distance 'from that place as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, specify power of 5 the central government may, by notification in the official ~=~~v- gazette, vary from time to time in respect of railway passengers vary rates of generally or a class of railway passengers the rates of the terminal 30 talt tax levied in relation to any notified place under section 3 power of eenu,,} gov- g 6 the central government may, by notification in the official d' b 'f\ d ernment to azette, eclare that with effect from such date as may e specl e discontinue in the notification, the terminal' tax levied in relation to any notified levy place shall for reasons specified in the notification cease to be levied 2' in relation to that: place - mode of recovery ofta: 9 of 189q 7 (1) the tenninal tax levied under this act shall be collected by means of a surcharge on fares 'by the railway administration, and where it is so collected the railway administration shall have all the powers and remedies for the recovery thereof as though the 5 slime were a rate or fare which the railway administration is empowered to levy under the indian railways act, 1890 (2) such portion of the total proceeds of the tax attributable to any notified place as the central government may from time to time ascertain shall 'be deducted to meet the cost of collection of the tax 10 8 notwithstanding anything contained in any law where a terminal tax in relation to any notified place is levied under this act on passengers carried by railway, no other tenninal tax in relation to such place shall be levied under uy other law on such passengers no other terminal tis on railway pa88cdie1'i whcotcrminal tax udder this 'm is icvfed bscmptiona 159 nothing contained in this act or in any other law shall be deemed to authorise the levy of a terminal tax on the following classes of passengers carried by l'ailway, namely:-(a) children not over three years of age; (b) police officers travelling on railway warrants; and (c) persons travelling on military warrants  the schedule maximum rates of terminal tax [see section 2 (a)]maximum rptes of terminal tax  25 c1as8 of accommodationa b (tn respect of every (in respect of every liini1e ticket) return ticket) ros a p rs a p air-conditioned or first class 1 8 0 3 0 0 30 second class 1 0 0 :i 0 0 thbd wass 0 8 0 1 0 0  statement of objects and reasonsthe terminal taxes on passengers carried by railway (including pilgrim taxes) now in force are those leviable under the local enactments passed before tlae 1st day of april, 1937, on which date the govemunent of lndia act, 1935, came into force that act made termiml taxes on passengers c&ltied by railway a central subject, but at the same time authorised the continuance of the levy of the emtibg termil'lal taxes on passengers carried by railway until promea to the contrary was made by the central legisl'ature under the coostitution of india also, terminal taxes on passengers carried by ailway are a matter in the union list, and under article 269 of the constitution such taxes shall be levied and collected by the government of india but shan 'be assigned to the states in the manber provided in clause (2) of that article under article 277 of the constitution, all taxes levied by the government of any state or by any municipality or other local authority or body before the commencement of the constitution shall continue to be levied after such commencement until provision to the contrary is made by parliament by law it is under this saving provision of the constitution that the existing terminal taxes referred to above are being levied till the present time whenever, however, there has been any need for the levy of any fresh terminal tax or for the enhancement of any of the existing terminal taxes (including pilgrim taxes), the practice has been to have recourse to the ordinance-making powers of the president for example, recently the madras terminal tax on railway passengers ordinance, 1956, was promulgated to levy a terminal tax on railway passengers visiting kumbakonam on the occasion of the mahamakham festival in order to obviate the need for the issue of an ordinance on each such occasion for any fresh or increased levy, general legislation is desirable and this also ftnds favour with the different state governments and various local bodies who have been pressing for such a general legislation for quite some time past after having considered the recommendations of ·the taxation inquiry commission, 1953-54, relating to the levy of terminal tax on passengers carried by railway, sea and air, it has been decided that legislation for the levy of terminal tax should, for the present, be confined to passengers carried by railway to and from· p]aces of pilgrimage, melas, fairs, exhibitions, etc the proposed legislation should provide that the places of pilgrimage, melas, fairs, exhibitions, etc, in respect of which, the rate (not exceeding the maximum rates specified in the l'egislation) at which, and the period for which, the terminal tax may be leviable, will be notified by the central government in the official gazette the terminal tax will be leviable in respect of every ticket whether single or return; there will be a free zone not exceeding a radius of forty miles, within which no tax will 'be leviable and different rates of tax may be fixed for longdistance passengers and short-distance passengers the central government should have the power to vary the rates of the tax or to discontinue the levy in respect of any place by notification in the official gazette the present bill is designed to achieve the1>bjects set forth above lal bahadur new delhi; the 7th september, 1956 a bill to provide for the levy of a terminal tax on passengers carried by railway from or to certain places of pilgrimage or where fairs, melas or exhibitions are held the president has, in pursuance of clause (i) of article i 17 and clause (i) of article 274 of the constitution of india, recommended to lok sabha the introduction of the bill m n kaul, secretary (shri la! bahadur, minister of railways and transport) gipnd-lad-14ssls-ij-9-s6-i 770 