Farmer Sues Traders Under New Farm Laws For Delay In Payment, Receives Full Amount

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 makes it mandatory for buyers to pay farmers within three days of the transaction. Making use of this provision, a maize grower from Maharashtra named Jitendra Bhoi sued two traders and recovered his due amounts from them worth Rs 2,85,000, Hindustan Times reports.

Bhoi cultivated the maize crop in his 18-acre farm in Bhatane village of Shirpur tehsil in Dhule district this summer. On July, he sold the produce to two dealers, Subhash Vani and Arun Vani, belonging to Khetia village in Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani district.

The farmer traded 270.95 quintal at a cost of Rs 1,240 per quintal. The total amount of the transaction was set to be Rs 3,32,617 but the buyers only made a token payment of Rs 25,000 with the promise of clearing the outstanding dues within 15 days. After a delay of over four months in the clearance of his payments, Bhoi approached the concerned authorities in the first week of October.

“A clerk I know in the local market alerted me to this provision in new laws brought by the government. He said traders must now pay within three days. I then decided to file a complaint,” HT quoted the cultivator.

The authorities tracked down the buyers and summoned them on 6 October. Upon facing prospective arrest and criminal action, the Vani duo settled the total amount to a tad bit lesser than the original agreement, which they paid in two instalments. The case was closed on 4 November.

“After studying the case, listening to the farmer, and going through documents, it has been ordered by me that the buyers must make immediate payments owed to the farmer,” the magistrate’s closure report stated.