Despite having 365 days store opening permission, local authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh were insisting on weekly closures. RAI has represented the concern and has requested the state governments to permit daily operations for shops having 365 days store operating permissions.

RAI has submitted a representation to Hon. Chairman, FSSAI regarding the School Children Regulation F. No. 15 (1) 2016/School Children Regulation/Enf/FSSAI and the impact it is going to have on QSR industry as a whole. In its representation, RAI has stated that, as F&B Industry is seriously impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic, and many of the establishments big or small, are just initiating to make a come-back, the said clause of this regulation will seriously hamper the efforts as well as the economy of this sector. This will also impact the GST revenue collection from the food sector by the Centre as well as the States.
Click here to view the representation.

In its efforts to ensure Ease of Doing Business for members, RAI has once again submitted a representation to the State Government of Uttar Pradesh and are in correspondence with the State authorities to permit all retailers to operate 365 days a year to help revive the economic activities in the state by issuing a notification to its effect. A similar representation has been submitted to the Uttarakhand Govt to permit 365 days store opening permission.

RAI had represented to the state government of Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu to permit extended working hours to ensure retailers are able to carry out business during the festive season while ensuring social distancing. The state governments have accordingly increased the working hours. Shops in Maharashtra can remain open until 9:30 pm while Shops in Tamil Nadu can remain open until 10 pm. Similarly, restaurants in Maharashtra can operate until 11:30 pm while restaurants in Tamil Nadu can operate until 9 pm & take away until 10 pm

Many members informed RAI that authorities from the GHMC were issuing notices to RAI members regarding the signages installed on premises. RAI represented to the GHMC commissioner that the said signages were name board for easy identification and not promotional or advertisement elements. Furthermore, RAI has requested the GHMC commissioner for a meeting and has urged that no coercive action be taken until the guidelines of the advertisement policy are discussed. RAI has also mentioned that due to the lockdown, retailers are already under a state of financial duress and that such policies are detrimental to the objective of Ease of Doing Business. Subsequently, RAI intends to move the court in regard to the order and the fines.

1. B2C invoices are those invoices where the end-users do not claim input tax credit (ITC).
2. As of now, B2C invoices are exempted from e-invoicing, but a taxpayer is still required to generate QR code for all B2C invoices as per Notification No. 14/2020-Central Tax (please click here to download )
3. All taxpayers with an annual turnover of more than Rs.500 crore in any preceding financial year (starting from 2017-18) are compulsorily required to generate QR code on their B2C invoices from December 1, 2020.
4. QR code is different than E-invoicing. E- invoicing is an electronic invoicing system under which GSTN electronically authenticates all B2B invoices. A unique number is issued for each invoice uploaded on the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). The invoice information is transferred in real-time from the IRP to the GST portal and the e-way bill portal.
5. Dynamic QR code has to be self-generated by the taxpayer. For B2C invoices, IRN generation is not required. The main objective of generating QR codes for B2C e-invoices is to promote digitalisation of payments using any UPI.
6. Dynamic QR code can be printed on the invoice or displayed on Point of Sale (POS). Purpose of Dynamic QR code is to enable and encourage digital payments where buyer can scan the dynamic QR code and make payment from mobile wallet directly. Today, many retailers have static QR code at the payment counter, which is scanned by the buyer, but the buyer has to enter the amount to be paid to the retailer in the mobile payment App. The dynamic QR code, on the other hand, will have the payment details and thus 'scan and pay' in one go is possible.
7. The CBIC issued a notification seeking to waive the penalty imposed on non-compliance of dynamic QR code provisions for B2C invoices between December 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, provided the eligible registered person comply with these provisions from April 1, 2021 Please click here to download

India, October 5, 2020: The Board of Directors of Retailers Association of India (RAI), at its meeting on 30 September 2020, appointed Bijou Kurien, Independent Consultant and Member - Strategic Advisory Board, L Catterton Asia (a part of the LVMH Group)  as the Chairman and Kulin Lalbhai , ED, Arvind Ltd. as the Vice Chairman of RAI.

Over the 15 years since inception, B S Nagesh had lead RAI as the founding chairman. He has been instrumental in bringing all modern retailers in India together to mutually benefit and grow the industry. In his  role as the Chairman, he  helped lay the foundation for an integrated cohesive industry that sticks together through thick and thin.

Speaking about the new appointments BS Nagesh said,  “We have decided to hand over the reins of RAI to new hands.  This combination of Bijou as the Chairman, Kulin as the Vice Chairman and Kumar Rajagopalan as the CEO will add tremendously to the work already been done in the industry during COVID-19 times. With Kulin joining, we get a young leader with omni experience who represents the second generation of businesses.”

An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, Mr Bijou Kurien has been associated with the growth of Indian retail for over 35 years. After earning his spurs at Hindustan Unilever Ltd., he joined the founding team at Titan Industries, where he helped build powerful brands in the Watch and Jewellery Industry like Titan, Fastrack, Sonata, Tanishq etc.. He helped create India’s largest exclusive brand retail chain. During his stint with Reliance Retail, he was at the forefront of one of the most ambitious retail ventures ever which dramatically transformed the Indian retail landscape. Currently, he is an independent consultant and member of the Strategic Advisory Board of L Catterton Asia (a part of the LVMH Group). An Independent Director on several listed and unlisted companies, he advises select consumer product companies and mentors a few start-ups.

Mr. Kulin Lalbhai is the Director at Arvind Fashions and Executive Director at Arvind Limited, where he drives new initiatives at the consumer businesses of the group. He has been instrumental in setting up several new retail concepts and also spearheads the group’s digital initiatives. He also plays an active role in the overall Corporate Strategy. Kulin holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the Stanford University. Prior to his current role, he has also worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co.

About RAI

Retailers Association of India (RAI) is the unified voice of retailers in India. A not for profit organisation, RAI works with all stakeholders for creating the right environment for the growth of modern retail industry in India. We encourage, develop, facilitate and support retailers to modernise and adopt best practices that will delight customers. www.rai.net.in

For further queries, contact:

BeanstalkAsia:

Malini Sharma Thakur: 9820500200 | malini@beanstalkasia.com

Jyoti Prakash: 8010681238 | jyoti@ beanstalkasia.com

Retailer Association of India (RAI) Shiv Joshi: 9702977666 | shiv@rai.net.in

RAI is continuing to pursue RBI to mandate Banks to support Textile, Apparels and Retail Sector for Working Capital Requirement. As per the feedback from our Members, Banks have not been forthcoming in sanctioning additional loans in line with the RBI directives. To support our industry's viewpoints RAI started reaching out to PSU Banks.
RAI delegation had fruitful web meetings with:

1. Shri Rajnish Kumar: Chairman SBI;
2. Shri Raj Kiran Rai, Managing Director & CEO, Union Bank of India
3. Shri Jayant Sinha: Member Covid empowerment group;
4. Shri Sunil Mehta: Chief executive of Indian Banks Association (IBA);
5. Shri Sujit Kumar Varma: Deputy Managing Director, SBI

to apprise them of the immense financial stress faced by the retail sector in the wake of national lockdown due to COVID-19 and to seek their support to pursue GOI & RBI.

Exempting retailers from Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 for the sale of hand sanitizers as Essential Commodity

In order to ensure availability of hand sanitizers in adequate quantity and quality in the country in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Central Government had notified hand sanitizers will remain under ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES segment till 30th June, 2020 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (Essential Commodities Order, 2020).

RAI has submitted representations to Dr Rajiv Garg, Directorate General of Health Services; Shri Mandeep Bhandari, Honourable Joint Secretary; Ms Preeti Sadan, Honourable Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India & Ms. Leena Nandan, Honorable Secretary, Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India to Issue necessary orders under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, exempting retailers from the licensing requirement for the sale of hand sanitizers as an essential commodity (till 30th June, 2020 or until such extended period, if any) as per the orders of the Central Government.

RAI delegation also had an excellent meeting with Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog. Various subjects pertaining to opening of malls and retail stores, challenges faced by retailers at local level and non-availability of working capital support were discussed during the meeting. Post our meeting, RAI has submitted representation to seek urgent support for the retail sector with MHA and RBI. Mr Kant has further spoken to RBI to create RAIs seek of additional working capital from banks and for moratorium. Please click here to find the minutes of the meeting.

RAI delegation had a fruitful web meeting with Shri Yogendra Garg - Principal Commissioner, GST policy wing, CBIC to seek support for the retail industry. Delegation has requested and discussed monetizing of GST credits, seamless utilization of GST credit across states, expedite GST Refund against Inverted duty structure, increase the period for SOR transaction from 180 days to one year, GST payment deferment without interest etc. We have been assured by Mr Garg that he will look into the matters. Mr Garg has also mentioned that department will explore the option of finance against GST credit with banks like SIDBI.