KOCHI: The trade and business establishments in the state and the government are heading for a collision with the finance minister Thomas Isaac issuing a warning against traders unwilling to lower prices despite cut in taxes under the GST or involved in increasing prices. The warning of Dr Isaac came even as Union finance ministry has issued stringent guidelines to traders, providing for one year imprisonment and a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh for overcharging.
Even though both central and state governments toughened their stance against the traders, the prices of a slew of products continued their uptrend. Prices of cement, steel, aluminum metal sheet and other construction materials moved up while the discussion held by Dr Isaac with poultry farmers failed to break the deadlock over lowering of prices. The main problem faced by the traders is the completion of the sale of the existing stocks, said Mohammad Sageer, general secretary of Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce.
“We are only seeking time for exhausting the accumulated stocks and adoption of the software needed for migrating to the new system,” he said. According to Mr Sageer, it would take at least six months for resolving all these issues. He also said suppliers have slowed down operations leading to tightening of the overall supply situation. A section of the retail traders of chicken in Alapuzha district meanwhile closed their shops on Friday alleging that wholesale dealers have jacked up rates in the wake of the GST implementation.
Alleging that the wholesale dealers are creating an artificial supply shortage, they alleged that while price in Tamil Nadu went up by Rs 6-per kg, it has gone up by Rs 16 per kg in Kerala. Price of cement has gone up by Rs 15 per bag despite no increase in the GST rates. The traders said cement companies used to charge Rs 360 per bag despite giving Rs 25 as discount from MRP of Rs 385. The companies, however, fixed the MRP at Rs 375 and providing no discounts once GST was introduced. Although the tax burden on steel has come down to 18 per cent from 19.1 per cent, the price moved up to Rs 41 from Rs 37 per kg. Rates of M-sand also went up by Rs 1.50 to Rs 3.50 per cubic feet.
