Mumbadevi Vehicles' owner Ketan Rawal usually provides three vanity vans to the crew of Soni Razdan and Rajat Kapoor-starrer Call My Agent, which went on floors in October. Over the past few weeks, that number has been upped to five, a demand that he is struggling to meet, given that similar requests have been made by several city production houses.

"I also got a call from Balaji [Production house], which has 17 projects currently on floors. They need 30 to 40 vans each day. I am unable to meet their demand because my vans are [also] being used by the crew of [Sanjay Leela Bhansali's] Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Rohit Shetty's Cirkus," says Rawal.

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, and especially amid reports of the presence of a more transmissible viral strain, actors have become apprehensive about sharing vans, he says. "Earlier, character-actors would share vans. But, in the last three months, artistes have been uncomfortable. Each day, we get SOS-calls from production houses that need vanity vans, and we often run short of them."

Echoing Rawal's opinion, van-provider Mehboob Ansari cites that the biggest challenges are being posed by production houses employing ensemble casts. "While many actors would share vans in the past, now, even junior artistes are unwilling to do so. Several web series are being shot nowadays, and many actors are part of each. It is tough to meet the demand. Even though we have double-door vans, which can accommodate two artistes, now, even for a single-day shoot, each artiste wants a van for himself," says Ansari, adding that though production houses are struggling, business for van-owners has flourished. "Our work is on in full swing," he says with a sense of relief.

As though meeting the demand for additional vans was not troublesome enough, Ansari says several production houses request for vans with adjoining make-up rooms to meet the needs of the actors.

"Earlier, if a van did not have a make-up room, actors would [use a common facility]. But, now they insist on being provided with vans that have such rooms."

With the uncertainty of the situation encouraging filmmakers to wrap up their films in start-to-finish legs, Rawal says several vans are being occupied for extended outstation schedules.

"My vans have been stationed in Hyderabad for Thalaivi since October. As for Rashmi Rocket, few vehicles were used for the Ranchi leg. Several outstation schedules are being held in Lucknow, Bhopal, and Gwalior, which is causing a shortage in Mumbai," says Rawal, who has ordered seven new vans to combat the situation.

Association hopes meetings with the State Finance Minister and Transport Minister will help ease their burden
Hiren Kotwani (DNA; December 17, 2018)

Within three days of the announcement of an indefinite strike by All Camper Van Owner’s Association, which provides vanity vans for B-Town celebrities and film production, it has been called off. This was the members’ way of protesting against the state government for charging ‘exorbitant Rs 1,25,000 per van annually’.

However, with several A-list stars like Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham having films under production currently, we hear the association decided to end their protest, albeit for now. Ketan Rawal, president of the association reveals, “We called off the strike after State Transport Minister, Vijay Deshmukh, assured us that they will look into our grievance and decide on it by January 15. Moreover, even the film industry guild and affiliated associations requested us. So, on the basis of these factors, we decided to end our strike.”

He says that all over India, vans are charged Rs 12,500 each as annual taxes. “But, for the same van, Maha Govt is charging 10 times the tax, Rs 1,25,000. And if that’s not bad enough, only this government taxes camper vans at per square meter.”

Interestingly, in the pre-GST era, vanity vans were certified under the ‘Rent-A-Cab’ category and were required to pay their service taxes accordingly. “Even the RTO permit calls vans as ‘Rent-a-Cab’. That time, we had service tax, which we paid as per the category. Now under GST, we’re no longer ‘Rent-a-Cab’, but ‘Tangible Goods’,” he says adding, “Moreover, we are also being told to pay for the last five years according to ‘Tangible Goods.’ When we informed the authorities that the last five years, we charged our clientele the service tax as per the category allotted to us, we are told that it’s not the department’s fault but ours and we have to pay the appropriate penalty.”

He says that by way of this correction by the department, each vanity van owner is shown a liability of Rs 2-3 crores of the last five years. He adds, “The department is saying that tax was paid under the wrong category and the correction has to be done because it’s our fault.”

So, the ‘new unreasonably high taxes’ and last five years’ penalties because of ‘Rent-A-Cab’ catergorisation by the authorities before GST came into effect are the two major issues the association is fighting against. Rawal sums it up, “On December 19, we will meet Sudhir Mungantiwar, the State Finance Minister in Mumbai and discuss our predicament because taxes come under his department. We’re hoping for the best. After this meeting, we’ll decide on our next course of action. Also, as assured by Minister Vijay Deshmukh, they will decide on the categorisation and our grievances by January 15. So we’re biding our time for now.”

The All Camper Van Owners Association went on a silent strike at Film City in Mumbai on Monday, protesting against the tax levied by the Maharashtra government
Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; December 11, 2018)

Vanity is a part and parcel of the glamorous lives of Bollywood stars. The vanity van becomes a second home for actors at every outdoor shoot and such is the integral function of this service that many B-Town stars own custom-designed vanity vans. But this key service of the film industry came to a grinding halt when the All Camper Van Owners Association held a peaceful protest in an around the premises of the Film City in Mumbai yesterday. Approximately 100 vendors parked more than 300 vanity vans and staged the peaceful protest in the city. Talking about this, the President of the Association, Ketan Rawal said, “The tax levied on a vanity van in the state is Rs 1.25 lakhs annually. On the contrary, the tax levied on a vanity van annually in other states ranges between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,500. Clearly, we are paying a heavy price when compared to other states. We had filed a PIL against this heavy taxation in Bombay High Court and the matter has dragged on for quite some time now. In fact, we also brought this to the notice of the authorities in the transport ministry a year ago. This was followed by a joint meeting with Government officials where the issue was discussed. However, there have been no measures to resolve the issue. We have been paying this exorbitant amount for the past eight years and it is affecting us immensely.”

Jiten Shah, one of the many protesting vendors, owns close to 20 vanity vans. He says, “Vanity vans used to fall under the category of rent-a-cab according to the Service Tax department and the Regional Transport Office (RTO). We have paid our taxes under that category till date. Now, the department is telling us that we were given the wrong category and that vanity vans ideally fall under the Supply of Tangible Goods Services category. They have now asked us to pay tax under this new category along with penalties for the past five years. How is that justified? If we don’t pay the tax arrears under the new category then our vans will be confiscated. This is nothing but harassment. Also, we were given the wrong category by the services department and the RTO and why should we pay the price for it?” Shah also pointed out that they were asked to pay the taxes in February, earlier this year, however the vendors don’t have the required funds. He adds, “We are appealing to the government to take cognisance of our plight and not levy taxes under this new category for the past five years. We have documents which clearly state that vanity vans were classified under the rent-a-cab category. How can we now be asked to bear the brunt of a mistake that didn’t make?”

Rawal also added that individual owners are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the vans and the expenses are difficult for them to manage given that the heavy tax being paid adds to the financial pressure. When asked if any actors from the industry have come forward to extend their support, Rawal said, “Nobody has come forward to help us so far. Having no other alternative, we have decided to go on strike.”

Producer Mukesh Bhatt who is one of the members of the Council of Management of The Producers Guild of India said, “If they go on strike then producers will have a tough time. But producers any which way are sitting ducks. They have to bear the brunt every time there is a problem whether it is with the various industry associations or the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). It is the legitimate right of vanity van owners to protest. However, their problem is not high on the priority list of the government. There was a time when there were no vanity vans and work would still get done. It depends on how much actors are willing to co-operate during the strike that will help producers.”

With vanity vans association announcing indefinite strike, many films may be affected
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; December 7, 2018)

The All Camper Van Owners' Association, which provides vanity vans to Bollywood stars, announced yesterday that it will go on an indefinite "non-cooperation movement" from December 10, to protest against the exorbitant taxes levied upon them by the state government. With 250 van owners withdrawing their services from next week, the shoot of several films is likely to be affected.

As many as five big-ticket films are on the floors, including Ajay Devgn's Tanaaji: The Unsung Warrior, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Shamshera and Akshay Kumar's Kesari. Ketan Rawal, president of the body, asserts that the impending strike will inconvenience the stars. "Only Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Anil Kapoor own their personal vans. The rest use our vans. Most actors don't use the makeup rooms in studios as they are in poor condition."

He points out that the Maharashtra government charges RTO tax of Rs 1,25,000 per annum from a vanity van owner. In other states, the tax is reportedly no more than Rs 12,000. Rawal expresses his disappointment at having to inconvenience the producers. "It will be a problem for the producers, but what to do? We will request them to bear with us during this time."