APMC announces flat 6% commission on commodities

Tough stance taken by the Agriculture P roduce Marketing Committee (APMC) seems to have finally forced the commission agents to bow down. After a meeting the All Marketyard Commission Agents' Association leaders have announced their decision to charge a flat 6 per cent commission as per the state government directives.

According to sources, it was a pre-condition put up by the state agriculture minister to initiate talks with the traders that they charge commission at the 6 per cent rate as directed by the state government. However, the flower traders have rejected the decision and have declared that they would continue charging 10 per cent commission on flower deals at the market.

"The sessions court has issued a 15-day stay to the suspension of operating licences by the APMC administration. We have decided that on a temporary basis we will charge a flat 6 per cent commission on all transactions of fruits and vegetables. We are hopeful that the issue will be resolved," said Vilas Bhujbal, a commission agent at APMC.

Last week the APMC had suspended licences of 13 operators and had issued show cuase notices to 535 more agents. Following the action, agents had moved the Sessions court which in turn issued a 15-day stay on suspensions.

From December 1, the state government began implementing its decision of charging a flat 6 per cent commission on all commodities in the APMCs across the state. The decision had not gone down well with the traders who had gone on an indefinite strike but called it off after the state agriculture minister assured that he would review the decision.

When the markets resumed functioning on December 8, the agents continued to charge old commission rates thus violating the government circular, prompting the APMC to take action.

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