The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called for a day-long nationwide strike today in protest of the massive rise in fuel prices as well as changes to e-way bill validities, with demands to conduct a review of provisions under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). CAIT has directed all commercial markets to remain closed nationwide between 6 am and 8 pm today. The All India Transporters Welfare Association (AIWTA) has also voted in favour of the bandh declaring that it will hold road blockades. CAIT General Secretary Praveen Khandelwal has said that over 40,000 traders associations are backing the strike call. As per reports, about 30 to 40 lakh transporters will also go off the road and sit-in and road blockades are expected to take place across as many as 1,500 locations in the country.
What’s being protested?
CAIT and AIWTA are worried about massive rising fuel prices. Petrol prices have mounted as high as Rs 100 in several cities of India. Though the rise can be attributed to the strengthening of global crude oil prices, most parts of the rise is due to extreme high federal and state taxes.
Reports suggest between 55 to 60 per cent of what consumers pay for fuel amounts to taxes. In Delhi, for example, the retail price of petrol stood at Rs 89.29 per litre as of February 16 (according to the Indian Oil Corporation). While Rs 31.82 of that is the basic fuel costs, Rs 32 is the excise duty applied, with an additional Rs 20.61 making up Value-added Tax (VAT).
GST mechanism is another grave concern for the traders, like multiple taxation slabs and filling difficulties. CAIT is protesting to simplify the GST regime towards agreeing easier especially for small traders who operate from remote regions of the country.
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Recently, the GST Act 2017 which affects the e-way bill validity is another issue raised by the trader’s associations. An e-way bill is effectively a document that transporters need to carry and present to authorities when moving goods within or across states.
As per a recent amendment made in the e-way bill, the validity has been narrowed down by increasing the distance from 100km per day to 200km per day. If a truck is found to be carrying an expired e-way bill, it may be liable to pay a penalty amounting to 200 per cent of the tax value or 100 per cent of the invoice value under Section 129 of the CGST Act.