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KOCHI: Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti (KVVES) in association with Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce ( KMCC ) and Kerala Scrap Merchant Association (KSMA) is organizing a 12-hour statewide strike by closing down shops across the state on Tuesday in protest against the VAT notices and fines being imposed on traders.

They are also against the Kerala flood cess forced on the merchants by the state government. Though the finance minister is aware that the software of the commercial taxes department is faulty, nothing is being done to stop the notices. They demand compensation to those merchants who were affected by the recent floods, removal of unwanted rules in the amnesty scheme, collection of tax directly from the merchants by the revenue department, etc. The government’s attitude of treating merchants as tax defaulters has to change, they said.

The Kerala Hotels and Restaurants Association has said that it would close its hotels for half a day as part of the protest.

Meanwhile, the All Kerala Chemist and Druggist Association (AKCDA) said that the medical shops were exempted from the strike.

