A series of offline and online meetings were held with Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh – Secretary – DPIIT; Shri Rajeev Singh Thakur – Additional Secretary, DPIIT; Smt Mamta – Director, DPIIT wrt BIS regulations on footwear. Post the meetings, RAI had submitted the following representations to DPIIT:
RAI delegation had representatives from Nike, Decathlon, Reliance, Reebok, Adidas, Skechers, Puma, Bata, Under Armour, New Balance.
RAI Advocacy Committee meeting was organized on 19 June at Hotel Suba International, Mumbai. RAI had participation from 20 organizations which included Trent, Landmark, Raymond, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Croma, Metro, IKEA, Reliance Retail, D-Mart among others. Advocacy challenges and policy issues from different states in India were discussed and action points for RAI as well as the Advocacy Committee in the next six months were decided.
RAI members were facing a problem to submit online application with respect to the nomination of a person other than director under Section 49 of the LM Act 2009. This resulted in several operational issues in the retail space. RAI had discussed with the Department of Consumer Affairs and the process is smooth now.
Certificate Program in Laws Relating to Retail in India was organized by RAI in various states like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad.
RAI has trained almost 150 employees pan-India in these programmes over the last one year.
Many of the food and grocery retailers requested RAI to represent to FSSAI to restore the validity period for food license to 5 years, which was reduced to one. Over the past year, there has been a collective effort by various stakeholders, including (rather leading) the Retailers' Association of India (RAI), to address the issue of the reduced validity period for food licences.
We are pleased to inform you that through the efforts of RAI, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has agreed to reinstate the validity period of food licences to five years.
RAI delegation had a series of meetings chaired by DG – BIS: Shri Pramod Kumar Tiwari and Shri Rajeev Singh Thakur – AS, DPIIT for extension of deadline for implementation of QCOs on footwear. We are pleased to inform that DPIIT has issued the attached Gazette Notifications dated 15th March (published on 16th March) regarding the Footwear QCOs effecting the following amendments:
RAI also had a discussion with Shri Rajeev Singh Thakur for inclusion of retailers (and held footwear stock) under the QCO exemption provision for legacy stock manufactured / imported prior to the Footwear QCO effective date, on declaration to BIS. RAI has shared the figures of non-BIS legacy stock and with DPIIT and BIS.
DPIIT will discuss internally with BIS for inclusion of retailers (and held footwear stock) under the QCO exemption provision for legacy stock manufactured / imported prior to the Footwear QCO effective date, on declaration to BIS
An Interactive session on BIS Regulations on Footwear Business, and The Copyright Act. & Music Licenses was conducted in Westin Mumbai on 29 Feb, 2024. There were around 38 participants and they had a fruitful discussion with the following speakers: Mr. Abhinay Kapoor & Mr. Ashutosh Mishra, form KPMG India and Adv. Anil Fernandes from Af Anil Fernandes & Associates. The program was successful & RAI received excellent feedback for the same.
A new Clause (h) to Section 43B has been inserted in the last Finance bill which is applicable from 1st April 2024. As per section 43B(h) , Any sum payable by the assessee to a micro or small enterprises, beyond the time limit specified in section 15 of the Micro, small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006. shall be allowed as deduction only on actual payment. Section 15 of the MSMED Act mandates payments to MSMEs within the time as per the written agreement, which cannot be more than 45 days. If there is no such written agreement, the section mandates that the payment shall be made within 15 days from the actual delivery of goods or services.
RAI has received submission from various members highlighting possible impact of this clause on their business. We would like to submit to the Central govt to allow buyers to make payments till the filing of returns like all the other clauses of Section 43B of the Income Tax Act.
BBMP has issued a direction asking shops to ensure that their signboards have at least 60% Kannada in the State of Karnataka. RAI has filed a writ petition in Karnataka High court against BBMP circular of signage requirement (60:40) and we have an interim stay order granted by the court in this matter.
The writ petition assailing the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act was listed on 18 March 2024. RAI’s advocate addressed arguments on the matter and pressed for an interim order. We submitted that the matter involved a constitutional challenge and the Act is in violation of Article 345 and a previous judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka. It was pointed out that the Act has not been enforced. The Advocate General of Karnataka appeared in the matter and submitted that the act has been gazetted. We pointed out that the date of enforcement has not been gazetted. The advocate general said any interim order may come in the way of enforcement of the act and that the Petitioner should comply with a statute. The judge enquired regarding what was the issue in having name boards in Kannada. We submitted that we require clarifications as the Act is vague as well as need time since it is an expensive and time-consuming process. Various other submissions were made. We pressed for an interim order.
The High Court after much convincing effectively passed the order to the effect that:
(1) The circular dated 28.02.2024 to the extent that it says that shops will be sealed is stayed.
(2) The Ld. AG has to clarify if the date of enforcement of the Act has been notified.
(3) If the Act is not notified the Respondent is restrained from taking any precipitative action against the Petitioners.
(4) Petitioners to make appropriate representation regarding the clarification sought and time required to comply with the Act.
"Prima Facie Untenable": Karnataka HC Directs State to Not Proceed With Circular Which Stated That Shops Not Having 60% Signage In Kannada Would Be Sealed
A Certificate Program in Laws Relating to Retail in India was conducted at Tunga International, Mumbai on 18 – 19 Jan 2023. The program saw participation of around 22 participants. The presenters Adv. Gopal Naik & Adv. Darshan G Naik, from Vision Law did an outstanding job of sharing their expertise with the team.