Representatives of PPBM among others who attend meeting of Punjab State Trade Commission

Ludhiana, July 28, 2025: A meeting was held today at the Bachat Bhavan in Ludhiana by the Punjab State Trade Commission. Among the many business associations present, the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (Regd.) was also in attendance.

The meeting was chaired by Anil Thakur, Chairman of the Punjab State Trade Commission, and DTC Randhir Kaur. Representing the Beopar Mandal in the delegation were: District President Parveen Goyal, District Vice President Gurcharan Singh, District Chairman Pawan Lehar, State Secretary Ayush Aggarwal, District General Secretaries Parveen Sharma and Ashwani Mahajan, and from the BJP Trade Cell, Harkesh Mittal and Rajesh Gupta.

Presenting their demands, the Mandal stated that Punjab is already emerging from a recession-like phase, and over 60,000 small and large businesses and investments worth over ₹4 lakh crore have exited the state. On top of this, door-to-door surveys erode the trust of traders—both local and from outside the state—in the government.

They raised concerns that in several search and seizure cases, protocols are not being properly followed as per rule 67 of GST act, which encourages corruption and bureaucracy. State Secretary Ayush Aggarwal pointed out that the remaining businesses in Punjab are working day and night to help increase GST revenue for the state. Seeing the increase in GST collection, one should not assume the business climate has improved—it is largely due to the rising costs of raw materials that the value of bills has increased, not actual trade activity.

The delegation stressed that not all traders are the same, and genuine businessmen are being harassed under current measures. They recommended that if the department has doubts about any industrialist or trader, a notice should be issued and the concerned assessee should be asked to present their documents at the office. Full cooperation from the business community was assured in return.

The Beopar Mandal also expressed protest over the pending GST refunds that have not been issued for the past 5–6 months and pending VAT refunds from pre-GST era. In response, they were assured that all pending GST refunds would be processed within the next three months, and that VAT refund matters are also being reviewed as to what reason is adding to delay at disbursement stage. 

The Mandal demanded the closure of VAT OTS (One-Time Settlement) scheme cases for the period of April 1 to June 30, 2017, at the earliest. They were assured that an OTS scheme would be introduced soon.

Several concerns were also raised about bureaucratic practices. Harkesh Mittal, Rajesh Gupta, and Ayush Aggarwal highlighted that whenever a truck is seized, it is not released for 5–6 days, leading to damage of goods and increased interest on the invested amount. In response, the Commission assured the delegation that no seized vehicle would be held for more than 2 days, and that full cooperation would be extended to businessmen by all department officials.

In conclusion, during a press conference, State General Secretary Sunil Mehra stated that law and order in Punjab has become a joke and that traders are living in fear. Already, Chief Ministers from three states—Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan—have visited Ludhiana and Punjab to attract local traders with business-friendly schemes. Due to the lack of such initiatives in Punjab, traders and industrialists are leaving the state. To make Punjab vibrant again, it is critical for the government to understand that trade and business is the backbone of any state and must be protected and nurtured.