A two-day strike by wholesalers and retailers across Maharashtra to protest against the imposition of local body tax (LBT) began on Monday, bringing trading activity to a grinding halt.
“Trading activity has come to a standstill as all wholesalers and nearly 50 per cent of the retailers have joined the two-day strike called after the Maharashtra government failed to resolve the pending LBT issue despite several assurances given earlier,” Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) president Mohan Gurnani told PTI.
The traders have been left disappointed by the government’s stance. After the indefinite strike stretching through April this year, the traders and government had struck a truce. Last month, CM Prithviraj Chavan, in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, had assured the trading community that a committee would be set up to examine the LBT issue. But, the one-month deadline for setting up the committee is already over, Mr Gurnani said. He said that the future course of action would be determined after the monsoon session of the state Assembly.
The state had already imposed LBT in lieu of Octroi from April 1 this year across the state and is set to implement the same from October 1 in Mumbai. LBT came into effect from April 1 in Kolhapur, Sholapur, Vasai-Virar municipal areas. Traders in these areas were forced to get registration numbers and were served three-day notices to pay LBT, along with interest and late fee, on the monthly turnover from sales in the local area.