Govt-industry talks on e-trip system collapse Traders plan fast-unto-death; yarn dealers announce 3-day shutdown

With the state government refusing to nullify the recent changes made in the e-trip notification, members of various industrial associations affected by the decision have decided to go on fast-unto-death from tomorrow. The yarn dealers have also decided to keep their shutters down for three days (beginning today). The losses due to the shutdown have been pegged around Rs 250 crore.
The industry representatives today met Excise and Taxation Commissioner Anurag Verma to plead their case against the changes, but to no avail. “The commissioner bluntly told us that the steel, oil and yarn industry will not get any relaxation and the notification will not be rolled back,” said Badish Jindal, president of Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association. “Now, the Ludhiana industry will go the Anna Hazare way to press upon the government to roll back the e-trip notification issued recently,” he said.
The members of the All Industries and Trade Forum will start their strike at the Cycle Market here. “We have been left with no other option. All our requests to the authorities concerned have fallen on deaf ears,” said Jindal.
While the hosiery and the plywood industry was on a three-day strike from July 22-24 against e-trip, yarn dealers followed suit today for as many days. A large number of industrial houses in the city would be affected by the strike as the yarn supply would remain suspended.
“The industry is going to face a tough time due to the changes made in the e-trip notification. Exempting goods less than Rs 50,000 is a joke in today’s world of rising inflation. The prices of steel, yarn and oil already are very high. Even a small trader or manufacturer will have to maintain infrastructure to abide by the e-trip system,” said Manish Jain from Ludhiana Yarn Dealers Association.
Through a recent notification, the state government had added six commodities, including cotton, sarson, plywood, iron & steel (excluding scrap), yarn and vegetable oil (edible and non-edible), under e-trip. It is a system through which details of the movement of goods can be entered on the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department's website, which will result in the generation of an acknowledgement slip.
The slip will be mandatory for intra-state transportation of goods. In case the acknowledgement slip does not accompany the goods, the owner will be liable for action. However, goods valuing less than Rs 50,000 would be exempt from the system.