OTS policy to recover Rs2K cr dues from millers on cards

Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 24

The state government is all set to bring out a one-time settlement (OTS) policy for settling all pending disputes with the 600-odd rice milling units. The policy is aimed at recovering Rs 2,000 crore due from millers on account of undelivered rice and interest incurred on late delivery.

Those availing the OTS policy will have to pay the principal amount, while the interest on the dues will be waived. The principal amount, however, will be calculated on the prevalent rates of paddy or rice, as the case may be. The policy will be applicable to all defaulting mills on account of any pending litigation with the state, including cases of paddy/rice stocks falling short, dispute over quantity of paddy sent to mills and rice filled in gunny bags by the millers for delivery, late delivery and interest to be charged thereon. These broad outlines of the policy have been agreed upon between the finance and the food departments in a series of meetings held this week.

The dues are pending since 1994 onwards. This is the second OTS policy for rice mills being brought by the Capt Amarinder Singh government. The previous OTS policy of 2017 had failed to yield the desired results.

Food and Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said all pending issues of defaulting rice mills would be covered to ensure maximum results. “Our intention is to clear the backlog and recover hundreds of crores from these mills,” he said. The minister said the maximum default by rice mills was seen in 1994-95. 1999-2000 and 2009-10 milling seasons.

The previous OTS policy of 2017 had led to a miniscule recovery of just Rs 22 crore. Tarsem Saini, from the Punjab Rice Millers Association, says the reason for the failure was that millers were asked to return the principal amount with 10 per cent interest. “An OTS will be successful only if the interest amount is waived and an upper limit is kept on the amount that is to be recovered from the miller,” he added.