The Maharasthra State Hotel Owners' Association (MSHOA) had deferred its indifinite strike called on July 27, 1998, following the assurances of Thackeray that the matter will be resolved soon.

``However, the delegation of hoteliers which met Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde and other authorities recently was disappointed due to the government's negative attitude,'' said MSHOA chairman, Krishna Y Shetty.

Describing the tax on liquor served in hotels and restaurants as ``just and arbitrary,'' Shetty said that it amounted to two-tier taxation on hoteliers as they were already burdened with heavy taxation on the purchase of liqour.

The MSHOA had suggested to the Deputy Chief Minister that the sales tax on the purchase of liqour could be marginally increased to avoid putting the burden on hoteliers. It had alsosubmitted a formula to the government to show that such an increase in sales tax at source would yield much more revenue than by slapping taxes on the liqour served in restaurants.

``It is very unfortunate that the co-operative attitude of the hotel owners has not been appreciated by the government,'' Shetty rued.

``The restaurant owners throughout the state have not increased the prices of any item served by them despite the sky-rocketing prices of vegetables, especially onions and edible oils. The government has also levied taxes on eatables like bhajiyas, farsan, batatawadas, usal, misal and lassi, which was not there for the last 40 years,'' he said, adding that MSHOA will not hesitate to again declare a strike if the government did not solve the issue.