Bhopal: Priyadarshini closed to buyers since July 1 for making it GST-compliant!

Bhopal: Priyadarshini closed to buyers since July 1 for making it GST-compliant!

SmitaUpdated: Thursday, May 30, 2019, 05:19 AM IST
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Bhopal: Strange are the ways of the government.

While the innumerable private supermarkets and department stores in the city didn’t down their shutters even for a day following the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST), both the outlets of government-owned Priyadarshini Supermarket in the city are closed from July 1 to date to make them GST-compliant! And together, they have lost at least Rs 3 lakh by way of sales.

Run by the MP State Co-operatives Consumers Federation Ltd., Priyadarshini is the first department store of Bhopal. It has two outlets in the city – one in Bittan Market and the other in New Market. The New Market outlet was inaugurated way back in 1988, when the innumerable Malls dotting the city now were eons away and shopping only meant visiting your neighbourhood bania, a list in hand and cash in pocket.

Ajay Barha, manager of the New Market Priyadarshini told Free Press, “We are closed for customers since July 1 for updating our billing software as per the GST. We have limited staff and that is why it is taking time. We have just eight staffers and of them only three know anything about computers. Also, our software has not been upgraded for long. We hope to complete the work by Thursday”.

“Yes, it is true that we are losing money but what can we do? As a government outfit, we cannot afford to ignore rules and regulations,” he says, wringing his hands in despair. But didn’t they know that GST was coming? “Yes, we did,” was his bland answer. The store’s daily sales are upwards of Rs 10,000.

Mamta Sahu, a retirement government employee, has been buying her groceries and other household good from the New Market Priyadarshini for almost a decade now. But this month, when she reached the store, she found it locked. On enquiry, she was told that the store was closed for “hisab-kitab” (accounting).

Unaware of what it meant and unsure of when the store would open, she chose to buy the stuff she needed from the Apoorti Store across the road. “I used to come here just out of habit. The staffers were friendly and the place was not crowded. But I don’t know what kind of hisab-kitab they are doing when all other shops are open”, she wondered. “I am regular customer of the store. When I entered the shop today I was told it is closed,” said Sneha, a working woman adding, “I wonder why they cannot at least put a notice outside the store for customers.” “This is the reason why government companies are always in loss,” she grumbled. We cannot agree more.

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