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Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 11
Wholesale fruit and vegetable commission agents are disturbed over the notices sent by the Market Committee for not paying market committee fee for the first quarter of the year. The commission agents claim to have paid the fee.
Harjinder Singh Bajaj, a commission agent, received two notices of Rs43 lakh and Rs3 lakh. Ravinder Sachdeva received a notice for not paying Rs6 lakh. President of the Fruit and Vegetable Merchants’ Association Tejinder Singh said around 300 out of 350 commission agents dealing in vegetables and fruit received notices for not paying over Rs3 crore market fee from January 15 to March 31 this year. Each commission agent conducting business within wholesale the fruit and vegetable market at Vallah area has to pay 2% market fee and an equal proportion of Rural Development Fund on the arrival of each truck.
He said most of them had evidence of having paid the fee as they made the payments through cheques.
He also alleged that the notices were not issued according to the Punjab State Agriculture Produce Marketing Act, according to which these were to be issued on form ‘O’ and also no show-cause notices were issued.
It is learnt that Kamaljit Singh Sangha, Secretary of Punjab Agricultural Marketing Board, found discrepancies amounting to Rs2 crore in accounts book of Market Committee, Amritsar.
Secretary of local market committee Amarjit Singh Kaura said the notices were issued after the discrepancies came out. He added that in case commission agents have any grudge, they must give in writing.
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