UP cement dealers warn of agitation over e-system

Govt has announced that from Oct 28, 2013, cement traders must apprise commercial tax dept of intra-state movement of cement above 300 bags

Uttar Pradesh Cement Dealers’ Association (UPCDA) are up in arms against the state government’s proposal to introduce electronic monitoring system in intra-state transportation of cement.

The government had announced from October 28 the cement traders would need to apprise the commercial tax department of intra-state movement of cement above 300 bags through the electronic system.

The traders would have to fill a form online each time they have to transport cement from their godown. This would generate a unique code, which would be received at the registered cellphone number through an SMS. The unique code would validate the transportation of goods during checks.

“This system is not practical and would only lead to unnecessary harassment of traders and transporters,” UPCDA President Nikhilesh Dubey told Business Standard.

The association held a meeting on Saturday and decided to apprise the government of their concerns.

“We would be forced to resort to state-wide agitation if our grievances are not addressed within time” he said.

The association has about 800 members spread across UP. Cement dealers located in dozens of districts, such as Lucknow, Agra, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, etc., have resolved to oppose the system vociferously, Dubey said.

UPCDA maintained that UP was backward in infrastructure, especially in remote areas, where majority of the people were still not conversant with the information technology and modern gadgets. Besides, the situation of power was equally bad. In such a situation, the proposal to introduce e-system to monitor movement of goods even between godowns was not practical, UPCDA added.

The association would submit the memorandum to the state commercial tax commissioner and respective additional commissioners in the district.