Traders protest GST: Shut markets in Bhopal, halt train in Kanpur

The GST regime be launched tonight in Parliament at an event that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee

Traders stopped a train in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur on Friday to protest the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the biggest tax overhaul since Independence.

Meanwhile, all major markets in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal closed in protest of the new tax regime.

Traders in Ghaziabad downed shutters to press for amendments in certain provisions of the GST. The Uttar Pradesh Udhyog Vyapar Mandal has called for the strike demanding that the provisions of GST be made more "traders-friendly".

The Uttar Pradesh Udhyog Vyapar Mandal has called for the strike demanding that the provisions of GST be made more "traders-friendly"."Option of filing GST return must be quarterly. No trader should be prosecuted in case of any error in documentation and only pecuniary fine should be imposed. Also, GST should be fixed at 15 per cent only," said the state president of UPUVM, Subhash Chabda.

The GST regime will be launched tonight in Parliament at an event that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will attend, and which has already been compared to the night on which Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous "tryst with destiny" speech.

(With agency inputs)