Basically, in a matter of 24 hours, eating out, mobile bills, going to the cinema, air and rail travel, insurance, healthcare, banking and other everyday middle-class expenses became dearer. Also, when a salaried middle-class person sees her restaurant bill, she doesn’t see the 0.5 per cent cess increase. In her head, it is a rise in that service tax, which has gone from 12.36 to 15 per cent in a matter of months.

Another problem with such cess is the fact that they are well aware that almost half of all cess collected in the last decade or so has not even been utilized for the purpose it was earmarked for. For instance, the average Mumbaikar knows she has been paying a comical 15 paise surcharge since 1971 for the relief of refugees from the Bangaldesh War of that year.

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Thus, the middle-class feels that its anger over such cess is justified. The trouble is, the government doesn’t seem to think so and the burden on the middle-class will only increase once the Goods and Services Tax is introduced, something Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday will be rolled out next year. One can only hope that the government revisits the numerous cess and charges and sees how much of it can be eliminated before the final figure is arrived at. The middle-class, after all, is one of its biggest vote banks.