Alappuzha: Ration shop dealers are a harried lot of late with disruptions in the supply of essential commodities due to the malfunctioning of EPOS machines upsetting buyers. In a bid to ease a few of their travails the Kerala Government has put on hold the earlier decision to not to supply foodgrains to the ration dealers on credit.

The organisations of ration shop dealers had put up a stiff resistance to the order that was issued towards the end of March.

The order has now been kept in abeyance till May 25.

The supply of ration goods to the public this month would have been hit at several shops if the order was implemented. In the last few months the supply of ration goods was marred as the EPOS machines malfunctioned due to a server bug.

The payment system
The ration shop dealers are provided foodgrains and other commodities for a month on credit and then the bill amount is reduced from the commission payable to the dealers for the previous month. The dealers used to make the payment to the Civil Supplies Department when the payment of commission was delayed or if the commission amount was lower than the cost of goods supplied. The order issued in March directed that this practice should end and that the cost of the foodgrains should be paid upfront or on the day when they are delivered.

The Kerala State Retail Ration Dealers’ Association had sent letters to the Civil Supplies Commissioner and the Minister concerned protesting against the decision.

If the foodgrains were not given on credit, it would be impossible to stock up the commodities and that they would suffer a loss if the grains were bought on a loan, stated the Dealers’ Association.

The officials of the Civil Supplies Department took the stand that the foodgrains were being supplied not on the basis of full credit and that the cost was being recovered the same month.

However, after it was realised that supply of ration commodities to the public for the month would get disrupted if the logjam persisted, many Taluk Supply Officers (TSOs) ensured supply of the foodgrains to the dealers by standing as personal guarantors.

The suspension of the order came following this.

EPOS machines develop snag again

The ePOS system in the State’s ration outlets has developed technical problems yet again. The entire system went inoperational from 6:30 pm on Tuesday. Following this, no supply of commodities could be carried out from the shops till 7 pm when the outlets close for the day. The new snag has affected the system even as the Civil Supplies Department has claimed that it had resolved all the problems besetting the ePOS machines.