Cloth traders go on strike over GST
They claim the new tax has stopped customers from buying clothes, as they now find it too expensive
Shopkeepers and traders in Chandni Chowk market in Old Delhi voiced their protest over GST on Tuesday. With the wedding season coming up next month, traders said that many people who had visited the market found the wedding lehengas and sarees way too expensive due to the tax.
As a result, traders, in one of the oldest markets of the Capital, went on a half day strike on Tuesday, keeping the shutters of their shops closed.
Prior to GST, clothes were not taxable, but now traders are bound to pay five per cent of tax on transaction of up to a thousand rupees and 12 per cent above that.
Speaking to DNA, one of the cloth traders Subhash Chand said, "We have been waiting for customers since the first of July but now all we do is have tea and go back home because of the increase in cost due to GST. Neither are we nor the customers are aware of the tax slab."
Retail sales are not the only issue for traders in Chandni Chowk to deal with. Traders say that their wholesale market has hit rock bottom as the tax will be applied on every stage that a good or service is delivered at.
"Most of our goods are manufactured in Surat and Mumbai and the manufacturers pay 18 per cent of GST. Once we sell the product, we pay at least five per cent more in tax which makes the product costlier," said Ashok Kumar Rustagi, president, Moti Bazaar Market Association.
He added that any retailer who wished to further sell would prefer purchasing directly from manufacturers rather than wholesaler which in turn would hamper sales and profit.
As a result, most traders dealing in clothes and bridal wear have decided to keep purchases and sales on hold, with the hope that the government would once again make clothes free of tax.
"We hope the government understands our plight and removes GST from clothes. Moreover, traders like me and many others can never handle the heavy documentation that GST brings with it," said Sunil Kumar, who has been running a cloth shop for around 60 years now in the market.