At GST meet, traders demand pension, accident insurance
LUCKNOW: Traders across the country may get the benefit of old-age pension and accidental insurance schemes under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) expected to be rolled out in April next year.
The demand was raised by UP representatives of all-India traders’ associations during a crucial day-long meeting called by the GST’s Empowered Committee in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The accidental insurance scheme for traders is already in force in Uttar Pradesh.
The meeting presided over by the committee’s chairman and West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra invited suggestions from various stakeholders before the GST Act finally comes into force.
Veteran BJP leader and Akhil Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal president Shyam Bihari Mishra pointed out that UP was the only state which provides accidental insurance scheme for its traders.
“This is a very good scheme and the Centre must expand the scope of the same and replicate
Accident insurance is a very good scheme and the Centre must expand the scope of the same and replicate it on all-India level under the GST Act SHYAM BIHARI MISHRA, president, Akhil Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal
it on all-India level under the GST Act,” he suggested finding support from many others organisations.
State planning commission, vice-chairman, NC Bajpayee and commissioner, commercial tax, Mukesh Meshram also attended the meeting. “The Empowered Committee has taken trader associations’ suggestions in written and will take an appropriate decision on the same,” Meshram said.
In the event of death of a trader in an accident his family in UP receives an insurance claim of `5 lakh as an emergency relief.
The trader associations also demanded the Centre to provide for a pension scheme for the traders above the age of 60 as a social security net when they were not able to run their trade due old age and bad health.
Claiming that the prevalent practice of ‘future trade’ was big source of black money, several trader organisations demanded a ban on this practice as well as the practice of issuing temporary bills by traders to the customers.
While the trader bodies made a case for a check on tax evasion, they were all up in arms against the provision of erring dealers’ arrest, prosecution and imprisonment under the proposed GST law. The ‘uncalled-for provision, they claimed, would strengthen the Inspector Raj in the country.
Sources said that the issue was even more sensitive to UP traders since the state’s present VAT law had done away with the provisions of prosecution and imprisonment of traders.
“The service tax that will be submerged into the GST did provide for prosecution and arrest of dealers everywhere in the country, including in UP, but traders are demanding to abolish this provision from GST altogether,” said sources.