RAI seeks faster NRP rollout, MSME status for retailers

NEW DELHI:  Ahead of the upcoming budget, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) has requested the government to accelerate the formulation of the National Retail Policy. The association has also urged the Centre to allow retailers to be registered as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) and avail benefits given to these enterprises.

RAI, in its pre-Budget representation, pointed out that the industry has been among the worst-hit due to the pandemic and said that the Centre needs to provide a boost to the industry in the upcoming budget in order to save to millions of jobs. Stating that retailers were not included within the definition of MSMEs in the 2008 Act, RAI urged the government to include them, while also incentivising states to adopt the Model Shops and Establishment Act.

This, they said, would enable shops to remain open 24×7 all through the year.  It has also asked the government to decriminalise minor offences under the Legal Metrology Act, a proposal that is under the consideration of the Department of Consumer Affairs. “The retail industry was almost squashed during the pandemic. It is slowly getting back on its knees with the opening up of the economy.

To get this crawling industry back to its feet and start running, we believe that the budget should address two main things that will bring ease of doing business for retailers and freedom from various procedural strangleholds and access to funds necessary for growth,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI. RAI has also recommended that the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana scheme be modified to extend financial support to kiranas and small retailers for digitisation.