Punjab CM exempts user charges in markets for petty vendors from Sept 1 till end of fiscal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

Concerned over the plight  of petty vendors (rehri and farhi), Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered exemption of their user charges at the state’s fruits and vegetables retail markets for the remaining period of seven months of the current fiscal.

The Chief Minister took this decision after Mandi Board chairman Lal Singh raised the issue at a meeting at the former’s official residence.

Responding to Lal Singh, Amarinder decided to exempt the user charges of the retail markets from September 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

According to Lal Singh, this much needed relief to the petty vendors of nearly 34 fruit and vegetable retail markets run by Market Committees (MCs) across the state would cost nearly Rs. 12 crore to the exchequer of the Punjab Mandi Board.

The Market Committees collect user charges through contractors, against the usage of infrastructure of Mandis. A total of 27 MCs have allotted contracts for collection of user charges through e-tendering, and the remaining committees personally collect such charges to provide various facilities to the rehri and farhi vendors.