Angadias ''out of business'' after ban on transactions above Rs 3 lakh
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, February 9
The ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh, which was announced in the Budget earlier this month, has threatened to put angadias or traditional couriers out of business in Mumbai and other cities of western India.
“We have decided to stop transporting cash on behalf of customers with immediate effect,” an angadia based in south Mumbai’s Kalbadevi said.
Angadias are employed by the diamond cutting and polishing industry to transport cut and polished diamonds and cash between Mumbai, Gujarat
and Rajasthan where the industry is located.
According to sources in the diamond cutting and polishing industry, the police and Income Tax Department have been raiding the angadias and examining their books to trace those moving huge amounts of cash around the country.
The crackdown which began following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in November last year will become worse in the coming
days following the ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakhs, say diamond traders.
“Policemen are checking angadias boarding trains
bound for Gujarat and asking them to explain the huge amounts of cash held by them,” says a Mumbai-based diamond trader.
The new tax law which comes into effect from April 1 will result in the angadias being harassed simply for possessing cash, it is feared.
However those in the business say that a section of angadias are actively involved in the hawala trade and will look for more innovative ways to transport cash between cities.
Angadias are known to charge upto 0.5 per cent of the value of the goods couriered by them as commission.
In the past diamond traders used to send rough and polished diamonds via the angadias who brought back the payment in cash on their return trip.
