New Delhi: A nationwide shutdown has been called by top traders’ bodies – the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) – over spiking fuel prices, the Goods and Services Tax and the new e-Way bill, a permit associated with the movement of goods. Around 40,000 trade firms have shown solidarity to the bandh.
A post on Twitter read,” Harassed by the complicated GST rules, eight crore traders and 1 lakh transporters will join Bharat Bandh today as a mark of protest against distorted GST,” the CAIT said in a tweet last night, demanding simplification of the tax.
“The tax is neither ‘good’ nor ‘simple’.” Around 1500 towns and cities across the country will portray agitations. Various other sectors like Road transport and AITWA will also join the protest and hold roadblocks. The Farmers union agitating at the centre has extended support to the bandh.
All Commercial markets across the nation will remain close as the All-India Consumer Products Distributors Federation has also joined the outcry. AITWA demands the annihilation of “entrenched ” e-way rules, for which impractical compliance from transporters is mandated.
On that note, the AITWA body said,” transporters are being made scapegoats by tax officials.” Furthermore,” any error or expiry of e way bill due to any mistake whatsoever is heavily and obnoxiously penalised to 200 per cent of the tax value, or 100 per cent of the invoice value under Section 129 of CGST Act, 2017 even when there is no tax loss to Government.”
The president of the national transport union has called off operations and staged a symbolic protest stationing their vehicles.