NEW DELHI: Over eight crore traders from over 40,000 trade associations, one crore transporters, three crore hawkers and nearly 75 lakh small industries across India have shut shop in protest against rising fuel prices, changes in GST rules and the e-way bill mechanism, among other issues.
Industry body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which called for the ‘Bharat Bandh’, was also supported by the All India Transport Welfare Association (AITWA), the apex organisation of India’s around crore transporters.
Other organisations including the All India FMCG Products Distributors Federation, All India Women Entrepreneurs Association, Hawkers Joint Action Committee, Federation of All India Vegetable Oil Dealers Association, National Small Industries Association and other national and state level organisations participated in the bandh.
However, various markets remained open, with traders saying that despite supporting the cause, they did not want to suffer another day of losses. Essential services such as medicine and vegetable shops were open for business. The response to the bandh was mixed with differential impact seen across states, traders’ representatives pointed out.
All major markets were shut in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, whereas it had around a 70-80 per cent impact in South India and over 80 per cent impact in the North East states, they said. Markets in most parts of West Bengal also bore a barren look, according to reports.
Fewer vehicles were seen plying on the roads of Bhubaneswar and a majority of trucks and goods-carrying vehicles did not ply on highways across Karnataka. The shutdown call given by All India Traders’ Association, however, only evoked a poor response in Telangana with few shops downing shutters in parts of Hyderabad.
Traders want GST simplified further
CAIT has been campaigning for a simplification of the GST regime towards enabling easier compliance specifically for small traders. “... arbitrary powers have been given to the tax authorities,” the traders’ association complained.