e-shopping to get 5% costlier in UP

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

Prime VIP
Staff member
Lucknow: If you are in habit of ordering goods from e-commerce site, get ready to pay 5% more. The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday imposed an entry tax on stuff purchased from e-retailers. The state cabinet chaired by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav okayed the proposal to placate lakhs of retailers who are agitating against growing e-business which was hurting their profits.
Among other major decisions, cabinet approved the DPR of Varanasi Metro and sanctioned Rs 1 lakh subsidy to weavers for purchasing powerloom replacing the old and outdated traditions looms. Besides, compensation to the victim of rape and acid attacks was increased by Rs 1 lakh and Rs 500 pension approved for handicraft workers under the Samajwadi Pension Yojana. Besides, it was decided that educated unemployed would be recruited as Samajwadi Bima Mitra.
According to a government spokesperson, the imposing of 5% entry tax is a historic decision in favour of lakhs of retailers who were losing their business. "Besides, companies involved in e-commerce were evading tax worth crores of rupees every month as they were not paying anything to the government. Traditional retailers, on the other hand, are already paying an entry tax," he said.
With today's decision, all products delivered though e-commerce sites and reaching UP's borders will be charged a 5% tax. The annual trade through e-commerce in UP is around Rs 10,000 crore. A similar tax is already in place in Uttarakhand , Bihar and West Bengal on goods purchased through online shopping. The state plans to collect around Rs 500 crore tax by imposing the tax.
Varanasi Metro is part of the CM's development agenda. By approving the project for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, he has now pushed the ball into the NDA government's court for its funding. The project would cost Rs 13,000 crore. A Metro train project is already under way in Lucknow and its first sector is likely to be completed by the end of this year.
Besides, in order to promote organic farming, the cabinet approved a cluster system and sanctioned Rs 10 crore for it. In order to aggressively implement his dial 100 scheme, the chief minister sanctioned Rs 629 crore for the technology and the operationalisation of the scheme that would be implemented all over the state and controlled from Lucknow.
In order to shed its pro minority image, the state cabinet today approved the construction of bhajan auditorium in Ayodhya and Chitrakoot and the beautification and rejuvenation of the two Hindu pilgrimage sites.
 
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