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VAT assessment notices: Traders in Ludhiana demand OTS policy
The protesting traders said that in the last week of October, the state government had announced that the policy will be notified in a week. But, it has still not been done.
The Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal organised a protest march against the state government in Field Ganj area on Tuesday evening for its failure to notify a one-time settlement (OTS) policy to resolve VAT assessment cases from 2012 to 2016.
The protesting traders said that in the last week of October, the state government had announced that the policy will be notified in a week. But, it has still not been done.
State general secretary of the beopar mandal, Sunil Mehra, and district president, Arvinder Singh Makkar, said traders are already reeling under losses and the government and sales tax department are further harassing them during this time of crisis.
Mehra said around 70,000 notices have been served to VAT assesses in Punjab, of which 23,000 are in Ludhiana.
“A state-level meeting of the beopar mandal will be held in Amritsar on December 13. If the government fails to notify the policy by then, state-level protests will be held. If the Congress government continues to harass traders, they will lose our support in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections,” Mehra said.
