leaders met Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State Som Parkash in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the issue of installing reflectors in new bicycles.
The meeting was arranged by state BJP leaders.
From January 1, 2023, it is mandatory for the bicycle manufacturers to fix Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)-approved 10 reflectors on each bicycle and also to get certificate of conformity (CoC) from BIS on an annual basis after depositing around Rs 56,000 fee per annum.
Owing to this rule, Ludhiana’s bicycle industry has hardly done any manufacturing since the new year and the industry wants the implementation date to be deferred and annual fee to be reduced.
UCPMA president D S Chawla and a few other office-bearers of UCPMA had gone with a team of Punjab BJP leaders to the national capital.
Punjab BJP general secretary Jeevan Gupta said, “Ministers listened to the delegation patiently and assured the team of providing some solution to the ‘problem’.” Another meeting on the same issue has been arranged on January 24, he added.
Sources said that the Union minister has asked BIS to look into the issue of fee reduction and also to make some relaxations in the rule.
As per the rule, no manufacturer can sell a bicycle without installing reflectors and even dealers can’t sell it without reflectors.
Penal action can be taken against the manufacturer in case of rule violation, that is, the violator can be jailed for two years and fined up to Rs 2 lakh as well.
Charanjit Singh Vishwakarma, past president of UCPMA, said, “As of now the rule stands intact. Another meeting has been convened on January 24. We haven’t been doing any sale-purchase since January 1 as we haven’t found any immediate solution yet. The ministry hasn’t assured the delegation of deferring the decision, or relaxation in the rule so far. I think the ministry just tried to befool the industry.”
Vishwakarma was not part of the bicycle industry delegation on Thursday.
It may be noted that industrialists had observed a hunger strike on January 16 outside UCPMA office on this issue, but it was ended after local BJP leaders assured them of finding some solution within 72 hours.
BJP state treasurer Gurdev Sharma Debi and Ludhiana BJP chief Rajneesh Dhiman, among others, were part of the team that went to Delhi.