Mumbai: 55-year-old Manjit Garkal is one of the oldest customers of PMC bank. “I have been associated with the bank for the last 20 years,” he said.
For him, his association with the bank started due to his parents, who have perished, had an account in PMC bank.
Garkal runs a business and has a turnover of Rs15-17 lakh. But now, he has no means to operate the business smoothly as his working capital is stuck.
“Now my concern is how do I pay my son’s school fee, salary of my staff, advance taxes and Goods and Services Tax (GST). Everything is messed up for me and many others whose money is stuck.”
He added, “I asked my chartered accountant if there is anyway I can delay payment of my GST, as this is a special case. His reply was no — that does not leave me with much option. Does it?”
Garkal has regularly taken a loan against his fixed deposits in the bank. “I regret I paid up that loan. If I had that Rs10 lakh with me, I would have been able to stay afloat.”
He claimed he is running from pillar to post to get a relief from this financial distress. “I will have to ask my friends and relatives for help. But how long will they help me.”
There is so much difficulty already and adding to my woes are the painful words of the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“She has completely washed her hands off this fiasco. How can I expect her to even consider helping businesses like me to deal with the worry of paying up taxes. If a finance minister sounds helpless, where does that leave us,” Garkal wondered.
