RAI appealed to the Central Government concerning the restrictions imposed by various state governments despite the reduction in the number of cases.

RAI sought the Central Government’s urgent intervention to ensure the state governments withdraw the additional restrictions considering the negative impact it had on business which was slowly recovering due to the lockdowns imposed. Furthermore, RAI has also appealed to the State Governments to consider Hospitalizations as the criteria to determine level of restrictions, and not the number of cases, since most of the population is vaccinated.

In this regard, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI, has issued a direction to the State Governments to withdraw the additional restriction imposed hampering business operations. Please click here to view the order:

RAI was invited by DPIIT for a meeting on implementation of Quality Control Standards (QCOs) for leather and footwear sector. The meeting was chaired by Honorable Additional Secretary, DPIIT - Shri Rajeev Singh Thakur.

RAI had representatives from Adidas, Reliance, Clarks, Skechers, NIKE, Bata, Puma,  H&M, Arvind Brands to name a few.

Dr N Mohan represented on behalf of RAI and contended that there should be no QCOs for Fashion footwear under the purview of BIS standards as fashion keeps on evolving.

Honorable Additional Secretary patiently heard our views and asked RAI to submit a detailed representation with logical reasons at the earliest. Please click on the link below to find RAI’s submission: https://bit.ly/3Kcx7ej

RAI has been pursuing with Ministry of Consumer Affairs to prescribe a separate limit under essential commodities for big chain stores Hypermarket.

We are pleased to inform that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has issued an order wherein they have mentioned a specific limit for big chain retail shops - 30 quintals and 1000 quintals for retail outlets and Depots respectively.

Further special exemption has been provided to states of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Bihar. Please find the order

RAI was invited by Legal Metrology Department, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, for a stakeholder discussion under the chairmanship of Mr Rohit Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs ; Ms. Nidhi Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs; Mr Anupam Mishra, Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs and Mr BN Dixit – Director – Legal Metrology, Department of Consumer Affairs.

Date: 27 January 2022

Agenda: To discuss about Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 amended vide GSR 779(E) dated 02.11.2021 (https://bit.ly/3tTo2lP) which shall be implemented from 01.04.2022.

Mr GR Srikkanth and Dr Ravi Gandhi represented on behalf of RAI members. RAI requested for extension of 1 year upto 31 March 2023 for implementation of GSR 779(E) amendment.
RAI also sought clarification wrt new provision of Unit Sale Price on each product specifically apparels, footwear etc. Honorable Secretary has clarified that in case of apparels, footwear and other products which are sold in numbers, unit sale price can be mentioned in number only. Hon’ble Secretary appreciated the concern and stated that the inputs are well noted.

Date: 11 February 2022

Agenda: Decriminalisation of Legal Metrology Act 2009

Discussion Points:

• It was mentioned about nomination of directors under Rule 29. However, Mr BN Dixit clarified that General manager can be nominated at retail shops with multiple units as per Rule 49 sub Clause 5.
  Further, RAI will seek written clarification from the Department in this regard and update members.
• He cited the example of UK Model wherein there is a level rating with level 1 to 5.
• If directors are directly responsible for committing the fraud and act is done in their presence, then notice should be issued in their name. Else, notices should be sent to the on-ground managers.
• It was also highlighted that penalty amount is too high for small retailers. Also, equal penalty amount should not be imposed to all parties in the value chain.
  If one product from a pack is found wrong at a particular location, then all the stores throughout the region should not be penalized for some violation at one outlet
• In this competitive market, consumers even in rural areas are well aware from where and how to shop. Hence, retailer cannot mislead them.
  
  Secretary concluded the meeting by saying that the Department does not want to become impediment in daily course of businesses but at the same time cannot put the consumers interest at stake.

Department will examine the international best practices. Honorable Secretary and Additional Secretary appreciated the concerns highlighted by RAI and stated that the inputs are well noted.       

Further, RAI has represented to Ministry of Consumer Affairs to exempt loose items / items packaged at the point of sale, booked through e-commerce channel from being deemed to be a pre-packaged commodity under Rule 4 and 6 (10). Please find the representation submitted:
https://bit.ly/3gbLN0h

We shall keep you posted on any development in this regard.

RAI had appealed to the Karnataka Government to withdraw the weekend lockdown considering it was leading to overcrowding during the weekdays, and also impacting the weekend business. Please find the representation here.

We are glad to inform you that the Karnataka Government has considered our request and withdrawn the weekend lockdown. Please find the order here.

Furthermore, RAI has also represented to Hon LG, Govt of Delhi, to withdraw the weekend curfew and other restrictions considering the significant dip in cases to support the revival of the retail industry. Please find the representation here.

RAI has also appeal to the Central Government seeking their intervention to withdraw the restrictions in Delhi. Please find the representations here:

MHA: https://bit.ly/3fJcadM
MOHFW: https://bit.ly/3FPouUo

RAI has represented to Ministry of Consumer Affairs to exempt loose items / items packaged at the point of sale, booked through e-commerce channel from being deemed to be a pre-packaged commodity under Rule 4 and 6 (10). Please find the representation submitted

We shall keep you posted on any development in this regard.

As per the announcement on the July 2, 2021, Retail trade is now eligible for priority sector advances by banks and financial institutions as per RBI guidelines. RAI welcomes this decision by the Government of India (GOI) and is thankful to GOI for considering our long-standing demand.

Click here to download the notification

To avail the benefits, retail businesses are required to register on the Udyam portal as MSMEs.

We are pleased to inform you that we at Retailers Association of India (RAI) have set up a ‘Retail MSME Help Desk’ to help our MSME members with their queries and guide them through the UDYAM Aadhaar registration process so that they can start availing the benefits covered therein.

Members can email their queries to msme@rai.net.in.

As the Government takes measures to restart economic activities in a calibrated manner to ensure the safety and well-being of citizens, RAI has urged the Governments of Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan to permit non-food category retailers (non-essential retailers) to operate.  In its submission, RAI has highlighted that by allowing non-food retailers to operate and carry out home deliveries will ensure that people have fewer reasons to step outside, there is the easy availability of non-essential supplies, and stricter adherence to social distancing. 

The State Government of Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir had permitted staggered operations of shops and malls as a part of their unlock orders. Uttarakhand Government permitted operation of shops till 2 pm, despite the curfew hours starting at 5 pm. Similarly, J&K government permitted operation of shops on alternate days, In this regard, RAI appealed to the state governments that organized shops and malls are safe places for shopping since they have the infrastructure to adhere to COVID appropriate behaviour and should be permitted to operate daily for full working hours for the revival of the industry.

RAI has been appealing to the State government as well as to the Central government regarding the need for vaccinating front end personnel in our industry, whom we are calling as Last Mile Workers (LMWs).

Therefore, RAI has submitted the representation to respective State Govts regarding the need for protecting Last Mile Workers (LMWs) and requested for prioritisation of vaccination of LMWs across major states. Click here to find RAI’s submission.