City jewellers, diamond merchants oppose PAN rule

Members of Bezawada Jewellers and Diamond Merchants’ Association took out a candlelight rally here on Monday as part of a nationwide campaign against making the submission of PAN card proof on purchases exceeding Rs. 2 lakh mandatory.

Association President K.J.N. Prasad said that there was a drop of 25 to 30 per cent in business in the last 15 days for various reasons including the PAN rule. He suggested that the PAN card rule could be imposed on purchases of more than Rs. 10 lakh as otherwise business would be stifled.

“The rule discouraged many semi-urban and rural customers from buying the valuables. With just 22.30 crore PAN cards issued in India, how can the industry survive if the arbitrary rule is implemented”, he questioned.Association office-bearers T.G. Tilak, Ch. Jaganmohan Rao, Dileep Kumar Jain and others were present on the occasion.

The rules are discouraging many semi-urban and rural customers from buying them, they say