Traders up in arms against 'license raj' to sell tobacco products

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Retail Beedi-Cigarette Merchants Association has strongly objected to the implementation of the Karnataka Municipalities (Regulations and inspection of places used for sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products) Model Bye-Laws, 2020.

The association strongly believe that the proposed regulation will be devastating for lakhs of small traders, who have already suffered humungous financial setbacks in the last couple of years due to Covid lockdowns and other restrictions. It further emphasized that too many tobacco laws will only increase the scope of harassment and corruption by enforcement officials.

The association represents the Karnataka Chapter of the Federation of Retailer Association of India (FRAI) and is a body of over 2 lakh micro, small and medium retailers from across Karnataka. It also represents the livelihood of over 10 lakh poorest of the poor retailers and their families and are known for raising issues concerning their lives and livelihoods.

Explaining the concerns around the proposed byelaws, B N Murali Krishna, president, Karnataka State Retail Beedi-Cigarette Merchants Association, said, "On account of the provisions of the Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act, 2003, COTPA, our members are already being subjected to daily harassment by enforcement officials, who take advantage of traders' illiteracy and lack of awareness to extract gratifications. As per the draft Model Bye-Laws, tobacco product sellers will have to get a license which will be renewed every year. In addition to that, multiple obligations on the part of the retailers, such as the display of license and maintenance of a suggestion book, along with heavy penalties in case of non-compliance have been proposed in the regulation." It will lead to a sharp increase in their cost of doing business at a time when they are reeling under the aftermaths of the Covid pandemic and this fresh attack will completely devastate their families, the association said.

Murali Krishna added that based on the past experience with other laws, the very act of getting a license will be challenging for small sellers as neither they have money to pay nor they are educated enough to do the paperwork required for securing license. "More laws will also mean more opportunities for local officials to harass our members."

The Draft Model Bye-Laws states that if any 'bad incident' occurs at a licensed shop, the same has to be reported to the authority and no one will be allowed to enter the shop premises until the issue is addressed. Since a 'bad incident' is not defined, it is clear that the only objective behind this exercise is to cause hardships to small shopkeepers. The Karnataka State Retail Beedi Cigarette Merchants Association members belong to the lowest economic strata of society. It will be impossible for them to afford extra spends for licenses and renewals.

The association has demanded that the State government must provide alternative means of livelihood to its members before implementing such rules. "Their pre-lockdown earnings were about Rs 6,000- Rs12000 per month which is barely adequate to feed two square meals a day to an entire family. Many of them have borrowed money to run their shops instead of depending on the government for employment," they said.

The association is also of the view that the proposed licensing law for selling tobacco products are brought under pressure from anti-tobacco NGOs with vested interests will only aid shifting of tobacco retailing business to foreign companies or supermarkets or malls hurting livelihoods of lakhs of small shopkeepers.