Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Traders down shutters

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, FEB.1. Several arterial areas of the East, South and North Masi Streets and surrounding places here wore a deserted look today, as a majority of the shops and business establishments remained closed in response to the trade bandh call given by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

However, a few shops in the Simmakkal area went about their chores, as they did not participate in the strike. The bandh was observed by the traders to oppose the shifting of service tax at 10.2 per cent, announced in the budget, on the trade and industry.

According to the chamber president, S. Rethinavelu, the ST was originally levied on goods transport agents but later "this responsibility was shifted to the service receivers." "The service tax can and should be levied only on those rendering the services and the service receivers can only bear the extra financial burden of the levy and cannot be made responsible for remitting the tax and submission of returns to the Government," he said.

The chamber claimed that a Chennai-based association issued contradictory statement against the interest of the trade and industry that the bandh would not be observed today and this resulted in the opening of shops in few areas in Chennai city only. Mr. Rethinavelu maintained that the bandh had been total from Chenglepet to Kanyakumari in the State.

Despite a short notice, the response to the bandh call from the business community had been "total" in Tamil Nadu and the traders even in small towns and panchayats downed the shutters, Mr. Rethinavelu said.

Expressing gratitude to all those who made the bandh a "great success," Mr. Rethinavelu said Tamil Nadu got the essential commodities from the northern States located several thousands of kilometres away in lorries. The traders and merchants in Tamil Nadu would be severely affected by the levy of service tax, which would activate price rise.

Even small traders, who might receive just one consignment in a year paying a freight charge of over Rs.750, would now have to register with the Central Excise authorities, submit returns and remit service tax. Hence, businessmen throughout the country had already expressed their deep resentment over service tax.

Later, the chamber submitted a memorandum in support of its demand to the MP, P. Mohan.

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