Firecracker licences: Dealers upset over rejection of files

Cracker dealers in the city, whose draw of lots for firecracker licences was scheduled at 4 pm on Saturday, were up in arms against the authorities for allegedly rejecting their files. They claimed that out of about 1,500 applicants, nearly 1,100 files were rejected, which they termed as “unjustified”.

The police, however, maintained that the files were rejected by the GST Department and not by them. “Only those files were considered which had valid GST numbers,” said Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma.

Pradeep Gupta, president of the Cracker Dealers’ Association, Ludhiana, said even his file had been rejected despite his annual turnover of around Rs 12 crore. “We fail to understand the criteria for selecting persons to participate in the auction,” he said, questioning why Rs 4,500 was charged as participation fee if the applications were to be rejected.

The much-awaited draw of lots for allotment of cracker stalls at Dana Mandi was to be conducted by the police. Around 1,500 dealers had submitted their applications but about 1,100 were reportedly turned down.

At the time of filing the story, talks between cracker dealers and the police were still underway but had not reached any conclusion.

Over the past few years, several dealers have alleged the entry of “fake” applicants in the draw, which they claim causes financial losses to genuine traders. Earlier, the participation fee was Rs 500, but on the insistence of dealers, the government had increased it to Rs 4,500 plus taxes to discourage ineligible applicants.

Despite the hike, around 1,400 to 1,500 applications continued to be filed every year. Dealers allege that those who fail to get allotment often pay up to Rs 3 lakh to others — who have little or no experience — to obtain a stall through informal arrangements.