Of the numerous demonstrations and protests common in Delhi, this one takes the cake. Trade associations have decided to protest against VAT by launching an SMS campaign.
The campaign was kicked off on Saturday by 100-odd trade association members and the strategy seems to be to start a campaign through the age-old ‘‘chain-letter’’ system.
Each trader has been asked to send at least 10 messages from their mobile phones to other numbers, telling the recipients about VAT and how it affects both traders and consumers.
‘‘It is probably the first time that SMS is being used to protest. We want to exploit each and every avenue in our movement,’’ said Praveen Khandelwal, spokesperson for the VAT Action Committee of Delhi Trade Associations. ‘‘Mobile users are consumers at one level and VAT is going to affect them too. We want people to understand how it is anti-trader and anti-consumer.’’
About 800 messages have been sent so far. In the first phase, the committee is spreading the message to other traders. The SMS will explain what is VAT and how it is against the traders and consumers. Then, politicians, media and leading citizens would be reached. In the second phase, the messages would reach MPs and MLAs and trade associations in other states.
‘‘Once the messages are sent, the success of the campaign depends on whether the receivers forward it,’’ says Khandelwal.