Traders have Multiple Reasons to Cheer; Government to Offer more Representation to Traders

The central government has agreed to provide representation to traders in various government committees on issues ranging from e-commerce policy, data localisation, fintech initiatives as well as foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.

Soon after the formation of Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government in the centre, traders started demanding a bigger say in the government policy formation. So far, various trader bodies and associations rarely had any representation in government committees. On the other hand, industry bodies like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), as well as e-commerce firms such as Paytm, MakeMyTrip, Ola and Cleartrip, have been representing in various committees on retail policies and FDI norms. However, this is going to change soon.

“The cabinet has decided to give more representation to traders in various committees in its first meeting itself after the government formation. Further, this government has taken lots of decisions to make life easier for traders,” stated Shyam Jaju, National Vice President, BJP, during a felicitation program organised by Federation of Indian Traders (FTI) in Delhi.

As per Jaju, the trader community has multiple reasons to cheer. “Government has provisioned for a pension scheme for small traders including those operating on pavements, which so far had been neglected by previous governments. Moreover, government is offering accidental insurance of Rs 10 lakh for all the traders with GST registration. The NDA government is listening to traders’ demands, is quite flexible in its approach and also takes firm decisions,” he added.

FTI President, SurinderDhir, added that the NDA government has been quite helpful for traders and that’s the reason the traders’ community has enabled the Narendra Modi-led alliance to secure a full majority in the April 2019 elections. “We are happy that NDA government is taking steps to bolster trade associations’ say in the government policy making procedures. We also expect the government to reduce GST on various trading items and ease the complexity involved, especially with regard to GST registration and return filing. This will help maintain monetary flow in the market.”

He further elaborated that originally GST registration was very simplistic and based on the threshold limit of a Rs 20 lakh turnover a year. “But now, the thresholds have changed; and it also depends on whether you are a goods’ business or a services business, where you are based, and whether you have a presence online. In addition, the state-wise registration has increased the cost of compliance.”

While felicitating Jaju for the ceremonious win in the recent elections, FTI presented a memorandum to highlight the above demands.