Delhi Government has issued a showcause notice to India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), asking why a penalty of over `49 lakh should not be imposed on it for allowing 99 “unregistered” traders to do business at the Trade Fair. The AAP government said that in absence of satisfactory response, it would impose a fine of Rs 50,000 per unregistered trader on ITPO.
Meanwhile, ITPO on Saturday claimed that it was not feasible for foreign participants to get ‘Casual Registration Number’ (CRN) and it might consider appealing against the notice. “We have sent a list of 99 traders, including foreign and domestic participants, to ITPO who were allowed for doing business at the Trade Fair by it without being registered with the Delhi Trade & Taxes Department.
“Taking a note of the issue, we have sent a show-cause notice to ITPO for allowing unregistered traders to do business at its premises asking why a penalty of `49.5 lakh should not be imposed,” a senior government official said. The official said the government has given around 10 days time to ITPO for its reply and if a satisfactory response is not given, the penalty which is running into Rs 49.5 lakh will be imposed on it. “We have received the notice. But their is a problem in the rule. Foreign participants can not get CRN because it requires PAN number. It never happened before. The department is not getting our point. We may appeal against the notice. The issue will be resolved as it isbetween two government departments.” an ITPO official said.