BAREILLY: Members of Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Pratinidhi Mandal (UPUVPM) on Sunday said that the government’s decision to extend the existing system of filing GST returns by three months till June 30 reflects its incompetence in implementing the new tax regime in the country. Regional secretary of the traders’ association, Lokesh Kumar Agrawal said, “Through this extension, the government is trying to hide its failure. This further shows that the new tax system was introduced in a hurry. Even the GST portal isn’t working properly.”“If the government was not ready, why did it introduce GST? Traders in villages and small towns have been having a tough time because of it. GST is so complicated that from a small enterprise owner to a big industrialist, everyone has been hit,” said an office bearer of UPUVPM.In its Saturday’s meeting, the GST Council also announced that e-way billing system will start from April 1. “We oppose the e-way billing system as it would work as an instrument to harass businessmen. When the government has already introduced a one country, one tax regime, what is the need for such a system,” Agrawal said.The association also expressed its anguish over the formation of GST council, which does not have representation from traders. “Bureaucrats and politicians who have little knowledge about business are largely clueless about the ground realities are taking such important decisions without consulting us. This is not correct,” Agrawal said.The first group of states to roll out the intra-state e-way bill will be selected on April 7. All the states will have the system in place by June 1.

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