Kangra's Damtal Beopar Mandal, APMC spar over market fee

Nurpur, July 5

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The Damtal Beopar Mandal, Kangra, and the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) are at loggerheads over annual licence renewal for wholesale trading and a 1 per cent market committee fee to the latter.

In a statement here, mandal president Raj Kumar Gupta said,”After the enactment of the three farm laws and a new GST structure, the collection of market committee fee is not justified. No neighbouring state is charging this fee, but thegovernment is forcing us to deposit it.”

Gupta said a delegation had met Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in Shimla, who had assured it of not charging any fee from traders.

He said although the state government had stopped collecting the fee in June last year after the enactment of the new farm laws, the APMC, Kangra, had again started asking for the fee.

Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, secretary of the APMC, Kangra, said the enactment of the farm laws had been put on hold by the government and the SAMB Act-2005 was in force in the state.

“As per the provisions of the Act, traders are supposed to renew their trading licences and pay 1 per cent fee to the APMC. The violators will be penalised,” he said. — OC