e-shopping leaves traders jittery

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, november 1

The online trading is flourishing during the festival season and local dealers are feeling the pinch. It has made a dent into the sales of local dealers and on some items the loss of business was nearly 50 per cent.

“Customers come to our shops, enquire about the brand price, try sizes but make no purchases and place online orders which also causes loss of revenue to the state exchequer”, says Inderjit Singh, president of the Shimla Beopar Mandal.

As per rough estimates, the loss of revenue on account of sales tax and entry tax was about Rs 100 crore and till the General Services and Goods Tax, providing a uniform tax regime, is implemented, entry tax should be imposed (5 per cent) on all goods purchased online with the payment on delivery, he added.

Singh said the drop in sales of some businessmen was so evident as the Excise and Taxation Department had issued notices to 22 dealers asking them why their sales had fallen. Urgent steps should be taken to provide a level-playing field to all, he said adding that there had been 50 per cent increase in online purchases as compared to last year.

The craze of online shopping is more among the youth, who are the priced customers and a large number of youth make massive purchases as online shopping sites are not only saving tax, but also launching attractive schemes, says Anuj, a college student.

Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner K K Sharma said the government was concerned over the loss of revenue due to online trading and considering imposition of entry tax till the GST was implemented.

He said it was difficult to make any guess about the revenue loss but certainly, revenue loss was being caused due to online shopping.