CAIT awaits clarity on relaxed lockdown norms on shops

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday said that "confusion" is preventing traders from opening shops even following the orders issued by Ministry of Home Affairs and various state governments

In a statement, CAIT said: "Despite of the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs and subsequent orders of different states including Delhi about opening of shops in different verticals, the traders falling in these categories are finding it difficult to open the shops because of further confusion about what constitute neighbourhood shops and standalone shops."

The apex body of traders estimated that the order of the Central government could result in opening of about 30 lakh shops in urban areas and about 10 lakh shops in rural areas. In Delhi alone, there are about 75,000 shops which are eligible to open under this order.

The CAIT on Sunday sent a communication to Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla apprising him of the difficulties faced by the traders on ground and urging him to issue a further clarification about neighbourhood shops and standalone shops.

It has also sought clarification on any restrictions on some kind of shops.

CAIT said that in the case of Delhi, the shops mentioned in MHA order have been allowed by the Delhi government to open but in absence of clarity on neighbourhood shops, the benefit could not be accrued by the traders and people in general.

"Further, it has been noticed that there is a lack of consensus among the Administration and law enforcing agencies with the result that traders are not allowed to open the shops in question," it added.

The apex body has also asked for a clarification regarding the necessity of passes for the shopkeepers who are dealing in the shops categorised by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"If the traders have to obtain passes, then an easy mechanism may be crafted to enable the traders to obtain passes and suitable instructions may be given to States to smoothen the process of passes," it said.