Bhiwandi: Bhiwandi’s powerloom industry one of the country’s major textile manufacturing hubs, has raised concerns over the compliance requirements associated with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) ITC-04 form, saying the bill-wise reporting requirement is proving difficult for small and medium-sized units.
Industry Demands Withdrawal Of Penalty Notices
Industry representatives have demanded the withdrawal of penalty notices issued in connection with ITC-04 compliance and sought a simpler and more practical mechanism suited to the predominantly small-scale and unorganised nature of Bhiwandi’s powerloom sector.
A meeting between industry representatives and departmental officials was held at the office of the Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, Audit, Thane. The meeting lasted around two hours, during which representatives explained the practical difficulties being faced by powerloom operators and submitted their demands to the authorities.
According to industry representatives, a significant portion of Bhiwandi’s powerloom business is run by small and medium-sized entrepreneurs operating in the unorganised sector. They said maintaining detailed, bill-wise records and entering the information separately in the prescribed form creates an additional compliance burden for businesses that often do not have elaborate accounting systems.
Why penalise businesses over a difficult compliance process?
Representatives questioned the practicality of seeking detailed bill-wise information from small operators who may not have the infrastructure or accounting systems required to maintain such records.
They argued that genuine difficulties in meeting compliance requirements should be addressed before initiating punitive action against small businesses. The representatives said penalty notices issued in relation to ITC-04 should be withdrawn and that the compliance mechanism should be simplified for labour-intensive and largely unorganised sectors such as Bhiwandi’s powerloom industry.
The delegation also submitted a written representation, relevant documents and photographs in support of its demands.
Commissioner hears industry concerns
During the meeting Commissioner Raghu Kiran heard the concerns raised by the industry representatives. According to those present, the commissioner assured them that their concerns would be considered sympathetically and that an appropriate decision would be taken after examining the matter.
The meeting was attended by Tirupati Siripuram, president of the Bhiwandi Powerloom Mazdoori Beam Weaver Association, Chandulal Sumaria president of the Halari Powerloom Weaver Association, Javed Faizan Azmi, chief secretary of the Maharashtra State Powerloom Federation; and Saroj Fakih, president of the Powerloom Association.
Accountants Ashutosh Subhash Trivedi and Ajay Nandal, along with Navinbhai Haria, Hiren Nagda, Barry Suresh and Barry Vinod Kumar, were also present, besides several accountants and powerloom owners.
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