Truck, bus body builders want GST exemption

Fatehgarh Sahib,, June 20

Truck and bus body builders in the state today kept their workshops closed and held a protest march at Sirhind town, seeking withdrawal of 28 per cent GST imposed on truck and bus body-building business.

They took out a protest march in the town and raised slogans against the Centre. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner.Varinder Rattan, district president of the Beopar Mandal, and Harmeet Singh Sagu, president of the Truck, Bus Body Builders’ Association, said most people involved in the vehicle body-building business belonged to the SC category and were uneducated. They said earlier, the state government imposed 12.5 per cent VAT on their business, which the previous government reduced to 5 per cent. They said imposing GST on their business would mean additional expenditure on hiring services of advocate or accountant. It would further reduce the already-thin profit margin in the business leaving them with no choice but to shut shops.

They demanded that either the government should keep truck and bus body building business outside the ambit of GST or bring it down to 5 per cent. OC