Letters to the Editor dated Jan 21, 2020

The Central government should respond to the request made by the Pravasi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) for making a distinction between the Chinese goods coming into the country through e-commerce route as duty-free ‘gifts’ and the genuine gifts sent by individuals working abroad to their kin. Indian markets are already flooded with Chinese products. China finds India an ideal place for selling its products because of the enormous demand and lack of restrictions.

From toothbrushes and mattresses to almost everthing else that Indians use, are made in China. The country exports cheap and substandard products to India in large volumes and makes huge amounts of money. Most of the products are also harmful to health. One wonders why the government is not imposing any restrictions on Chinese goods. Massive sale of Chinese goods in India has impacted indigenous products and their demand and sales have fallen.

Kollam

Apropos the editorial ‘The e-commerce bogey’ (January 21), the remark of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s announcement took one by surprise. The CEO had earlier announced that he proposed to invest a further $1 billion and create one million jobs in India, which one expected a government that has set before itself the ambitious goal of ‘making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024’, to welcome unreservedly.

Even if, as is being speculated, the Minister’s remark was to assuage the anxiety of the nation’s trading community constituting an important vote bank for the ruling party, it is indefensible, as e-commerce is good for both customers and businesses. Customers prefer online shopping due to convenience, better prices, more variety and the availability of a return policy in case the goods are defective or substandard. It also forces brick-and-mortar outlets to improve the quality of their products and services. If Amazon is violating any Indian law, there are agencies to handle the same. Senior government functionaries need to be more circumspect in their pronouncements.

Chennai

With the advent of JP Nadda as president, the BJP may see a change from the diktat style of the earlier dispensation to one of consultation, if not consensus. Voices of the BJP cadre from the State and district levels may yet get a chance to be heard. And that should prove useful after a string of recent poll reverses, equally attributable to a flailing economy, consolidation of the opposition and amorphous ideologies clouding local issues. That said, the policy approach that ran the party till now, is getting transplanted to home affairs in the national canvas. Federalism is losing currency and a unfamiliar brand of nationalism is sought to be implemented. As unease of the States and the common man gets palpable by the day, the future does not augur well.

Navi Mumbai

Even after two-and-a-half years of implementation of GST in India, one is at the crossroads when it comes to filing monthly returns. There are several challenges encountered and it appears that the software does not rise up to basic expectations. Either the OTP generated does not reach the filer’s mobile or the system logs out by itself without any rhyme or reason. The last date for filing December 2019 returns being January 20, 2020, is a case in point. The GST Council has evolved a system where alerts are sent to the users reminding them to file their returns on time and not wait till two days before the deadline. The fact is even if the returns are filed eight days before the deadline, the assessees are put to various inconveniences.

Despite the hiccups, the GST Council has not bothered to extend the filing date. To add fuel to fire, its talking about levying penalty for late filing. Is it so hard to recognise that the software developer of GSTR is unable to fix the problems? It’s time the GST Council and took appropriate action to mitigate the problems.

Bengaluru

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