They have warned that if traditional retail sector is not given due safeguards, it will cause large scale joblessness in the country
Unorganised retailers have demanded a level playing field in terms bank finance, ease of compliance in the proposed Retail Trade Policy, for which the central Commerce and Industries ministry has called a meeting on Friday. They have warned that if traditional retail sector is not given due safeguards, it will cause large scale joblessness in the country.
Federation of All India Traders, which is one of the organisations representing unorganised retailers, in a memorandum to the ministry said that traditional retailers are pitched in an uneven fight against organised retail giants and e-commerce companies as the retail sector in the country is witnessing a sea change.
"We seek a level playing field. The current scenario is such that it is very difficult to put a fight against organised players with big pockets," said V K Bansal, general secretary of the Federation in a proposal to the government. One of the major interventions, it has sought is the access to institutional finance in absence of they they have to resort to costly private finance which leads to parallel economy. "Only four per cent of bank finance is for unorganised retailers. Inspite of repeated guidelines by RBI to provide bank finance to micro and small enterprises, banks are not doing the same as traders do not have the collateral to offer," said Bansal.
Federation president Jayendra Tanna warned that any harm to neighbourhood shops will create large scale joblessness, as these shopkeepers are not only self employed but also employ others. There are close to six crore shops employing 25 crore persons. It requires less capital and less infrastructure and can employ persons with rudimentary skills. "This sector has taken a severe beating because of demonetization and premature roll out of GST. If the damage is not controlled in a time bound manner, it will have cascading social and economic impact," said Tanna.
The federation has urged the government to come out with a policy that encourages honest businessmen and is compliance friendly.
DEMANDS
- Federation said that it is not that the traditional retailers are oblivious to the necessity of changing as per changing times, but reiterated that they need hand-holding from the government.
- It urged government to come out with a policy that encourages honest businessmen and is compliance friendly.
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