Thiruvananthapuram: A large group of traders, led by the Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, staged a protest march to Raj Bhavan, voicing strong opposition to the central government’s perceived anti-trade policies. The protest, which saw thousands of traders joining the march from Museum Junction to Raj Bhavan on Thursday at 10:30 a.m., aimed to highlight multiple demands from the trading community.
The protesters’ primary demands include protecting small traders from monopolistic corporations and e-commerce giants, as well as withdrawing the GST burden imposed on rental payments for commercial properties. Babulal Gupta, National President of Bharatiya Udyog Mandal, inaugurated the protest, urging the government to address these demands. He stated that small traders are struggling to survive without adequate government support, and instead of extending a helping hand, the central government is imposing stricter controls on them.
Presiding over the meeting, State President Raju Apsara pointed out that the GST imposed on rent is a significant new challenge for traders. During the 54th GST Council meeting, a decision was made to bring commercial property rent under the reverse charge mechanism. According to this decision, even if the property owner is unregistered, the trader must pay 18% GST on rent, which effectively transfers the burden of invoicing and tax from the owner to the trader. This policy shift is expected to impact more than 400,000 GST-registered traders across Kerala.
State Working President Kunjavu Haji, State General Secretary Devassia Mechery, Treasurer Devarajan, Senior Vice President K.V. Abdul Hameed, along with other state officials including C. Dhaneesh Chandran, Y. Vijayan, M.K. Thomas Kutty, P.C. Jacob, A.J. Shajahan, K. Ahmed Shareef, Babu Kottayil, Sunny Paimpillil, Bappu Haji, Jojin T. Joy, V. Sabeel Raj, A.J. Riyas, Saleem Ramanattukara, and Women’s Wing State President Sreeja Sivadas, participated in the march.
