The Tamilnadu Chamber of Commerce has called for an end to the “indiscriminate seizure of cash” from vehicles in the state by officials of the Election Commission, claiming that such seizures have “severely constrained trade and industrial activities.”
“It is inevitable for businessmen to carry substantial amount of cash with them in vehicles from one district to another for buying agricultural produce directly from farmers and also for payment in bonafide commercial transactions,” the Madurai-based Chamber has said in a press release. Confiscation of such amounts, it has warned, would bring trade and industrial activities to a standstill.
“It is impracticable for traders to always carry cheques or demand drafts instead of cash,” the release says, adding that most small traders make sales on credit and collect cash from debtors going around in vehicles. “It is impossible for them to provide documents to prove the genuineness of the transactions, as a good majority of them are illiterate,” says the Chamber’s Senior President, S Rethinavelu, in the release.
He also fears that anti-social elements could come in the garb of officials and make away with the money. “The Election Commission had not charted out proper guidelines in this regard,” says Retinavelu.