Coronavirus Lockdown: Trader's body writes to PM, suggests measures to tide over financial stress

Kolkata: A national body of traders has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting a host of measures to help the community tide over the crisis triggered by the coronavirus lockdown, including putting a cap on the value of e-commerce sales and giving access to Udyog Aadhaar cards.

The Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal said it decided to seek the PM’s intervention after meeting its representatives in 17 states on the way forward for the 6.5 odd crore traders.

In the letter to the prime minister, it said that e-commerce players should not be allowed to sell products over Rs 5,000.

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This provision is extremely essential for traders of electronic goods, mobile phones, computers and laptops, whose business has been severely hit due to the growing e-commerce segment, national secretary of Vyapar Mandal, V K Bansal said.

The letter also said the traders should be accorded the status of service providers and allowed to apply for Udyog Aadhaar cards to avail the benefits of loans offered to small and micro business/service providers at a reasonable interest of 6 percent.

Vyapar Mandal batted for the introduction of a single point GST system under which the entire tax amount is collected at the manufacturers’ end on prevailing rates.

It also said due to the lockdown, a lot of goods have been stocked up for months in warehouses and are losing their original quality due to which they are being sold at less than the purchase price.

“The government should refund the excess to GST to traders,” said Sushil Poddar, convenor of the eastern zone of Vyapar Mandal.