Federation of Retailers Association of India (FRAI), the representative body of 80 lakh retailers, including panwallas, selling tobacco products has raised strong objections to the order issued by Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam which mandates separate licence for selling tobacco products like pan, bidi, cigarette, etc. FRAI said such measures will cause harassment to poor and mostly uneducated micro-retailers at the hands of enforcement officials and will bring back the license raj.
Moreover, it will lead to a sharp increase in their cost of doing business at a time when retailers are in a desperate situation due to a massive loss in business on account of Covid.