Indefinite strike by traders against the Maharashtra Government’s decision to replace Octroi by Local Body Tax in Mumbai to badly impact consumers
Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology, the apex body actively representing ICT Manufacturing, Training, IT, Design, R&D and associated services sector has urged the Government of Maharashtra and various trade bodies in the state to amicably settle the issue related to implementation ofLocal Body Tax (LBT) in Mumbai.
The introduction of LBT has made it mandatory for traders to pay for entry of goods into a local area for consumption, use or sale therein. It is a self assessment or account based method of paying local tax, where the trader needs to declare the tax liability by submitting records themselves. It is a replacement of Octroi, which was to be paid every time a consignment enters the city, at Octroi Nakas.
Protesting against this policy, traders have gone on an indefinite strike bringing the financial capital of the country to a standstill. If the issue is not resolved soon, the already troubled IT Hardware Industry would be affected badly. The last fiscal was not good for the IT hardware Industry and this unforeseen shutdown further adds on reasons to worry.
Commenting on the shutdown Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director MAIT said, “The Government of Maharashtra and the trade bodies should amicably settle the issue of implementing the LBT and come up with a solution that would benefit the consumers and the trade bodies on a larger scale.”
“Such protests have serious negative impact on the economy and manufacturing and also negatively impact the consumers,” he said adding that it is also important for the state government to resolve the issue bilaterally, and in the larger interest of both the consumers and the traders.If the strike prolongs, the availability and price of items and electronic goods will be affected.
