Traders threaten stir over new VAT form

Confederation of All-India Traders, the leading lobby for small traders, has urged chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw recent notification issued by the city VAT department prescribing a new form, Delhi Sugam-1 (DS-1). It is now mandatory for every trader in Delhi to fill the new form online prior to sending any goods outside the national capital. The notification will be effective from June 1.

In a statement on Sunday, the CAIT claimed the city traders would be forced either to shut their shops or shift their businesses to neighbouring states because of the manner in which the AAP government was treating the traders and causing a lot of damage to trade and commerce in the city.

As per the notification, every trader is liable to give 17 details in a prescribed format for each invoice, which will increase the workload of the traders. CAIT secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal said the traders were liable to provide G/R No, and vehicle number that was not possible at all since most of the loading of material by the transporters was done at night whereas the material was dispatched during the working hours. Since no transporter can give G/R No. in advance, Mr Khandelwal claimed how could a trader provide such information prior to sending goods outside Delhi. “Providing vehicle number by the transporter is almost impossible since even the transporter does not know on which vehicle the goods will be transported.”