TLI Staff
New Delhi: Reeling under complete lockdown in some states and Union Territories (UTs) while partial shutdown in some other states to contain the spread of Coronavirus, traders have asked government to extend short-term “Corona cash loans” to help them tide over the crisis.
Delhi-based traders’ group Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said that such loans could be provided at reduced interest rates. Further, the CAIT has stated that such credit support would boost the production and help in maintaining effective and uninterrupted supply chain in the country.
The traders association also suggested to launch a special drive to promote digital transactions as the bank notes could possibly be the carriers of Coronavirus. It demanded that bank charges on these digital payments should be either waived off or government should provide subsidy in lieu of bank charges to the banks directly.
The CAIT had a few days back suggested the government to provide a comprehensive Insurance policy with minimum premium covering Corona as natural calamity.
While extending its full support to the lockdown imposed in various states including Delhi, partial lockdown in other states and preventive measures taken by the government to combat community transmission of Coronavirus in the country, the CAIT expressed “deep resentment over the business behaviour” of E-commerce companies.
The traders’ body which has been at odds with E-commerce companies has also asked the government to stop the latter from selling non-essential items.
“At a time when physical markets are closed in many states due to lockdown whereas the e commerce companies are free to undertake business activities. In the wake of the same, the CAIT has urged Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to allow E-commerce companies to deal only in essential commodities as it is relaxed for the offline markets and they should be directed to close their portals for rest of the items,” the CAIT said in a statement.
Meanwhile, its National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal have urged the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to assess the impact of Coronavirus on domestic trade of the country.
“In the current extra-ordinary situation of lockdown, partial lockdown and other preventive steps, the current financial year may be extended upto 30th June. All returns to be filed and payment of taxes under Income Tax and GST should also be deferred to 30th June and no interest or penalty should be levied on the traders for the extended period,” the top office bearers have demanded.
Payment of bank loans and EMIs should be postponed to 30th June and no interest should be charged for the extended period. Reserve Bank of India should provide a monetary stimulus, Union government and state governments should give fiscal stimulus and recapitalisation of bank loans through strengthening of Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), they added.
Trader group CAIT wants insurance cover for business disruptions due to Coronavirus