Wholesalers and Retailers in the country will function as per its definition by next month. The Department of Trade is in the process of streamlining and strengthening the Wholesale Distribution System. Currently, Wholesaler and Retailers have been functioning alike.
By definition Retailers are those traders who sell goods directly to the consumers and Wholesaler are authorised representative of a manufacturer/Principal Company to distribute their products to retailers. With the regulation, the wholesaler will be allowed to deal in products of a maximum of 30 Principal Companies/Firms and engage only in those products for which the license has been issued. The wholesaler will not be allowed to carry out the retail business. And the retailer shall not carry out wholesale business.
And according to the Department of Trade, the policy is also expected to help businesses import genuine products and strengthen the refund policy.
“If we are able to import straight from the companies we would get the goods from the aspired companies. Similarly, if we directly import from the principal company we would get GST benefit. Currently, most of our people do not claim or even get GST benefits. Therefore it is one reason why prices on goods are slightly high comparatively,” said Rinchen Lhazom, the Offtg Director-General of the Department of Trade.
More than 20 participants including representatives from relevant government agencies and businesses from Thimphu and Paro attended the two-day workshop on Supply chain, e-commerce, operational aspects of POL outlets and import procedures in Paro. It ended yesterday. Some of the business entities expressed mixed reaction to the streamlining of import nature.
“I think this initiative would only favour those who can distribute to all districts. Some of us have no capacity to distribute it to all districts. Today when we are able to import and sell directly to consumers it is very convenient. I didn’t see any valid reason for the department to enforce such complete restrictions,” said Tandin Jamstho, a retailer in Paro.
“Today people directly go to nearby towns like Jaigaon and Siliguri to do shopping. So it affects shopkeepers like us in Paro, Thimphu and every district. With this regulation according to the department of trade, if we stick with identified distributer and dealers in our country then I think it would benefit us all,” said Sonam Tobgay, a businessman in Paro.
Currently, there are 894 wholesalers and 9,795 retailer licenses in operation in the country. Most of them are located in Thimphu, Chhukha and Paro.
Namgay Wangchuk, Paro
