A one-day Bharat bandh has been called by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Friday to protest against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. All India Transport Welfare Association (AITWA) has extended its supported to the bandh and according to media reports, truckers will block major highways and roads today.

The protest was announced earlier this month by CAIT national president BC Bhartia and secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal. They called GST the most complicated tax system globally, which brought untold misery for traders in the country.

Also read: Bharat Bandh against GST: The services that may be affected tomorrow

“The current system of GST has become a maze of compliances without tangible benefits to the stakeholders. The trade leaders across the country were of a unanimous view that both central and state governments have failed to respond to the problems of traders regarding the tax,” Bhartia had said.

Also read: Will banking sector be affected by Bharat bandh on Friday

All commercial markets across the country will remain shut as over 40,000 traders’ associations are taking part in the bandh, said CAIT chief.

Meanwhile, the AITWA will protest against the fuel price hike and scrapping of new e-way bill laws introduced by the Centre, PTI reported.

All commercial vehicles will be parked between 6 am to 8 pm as a symbolic protest. All transport godowns will display the protest banners.

However, the banking sectors will not be hit by the bandh as the protest is only limited to trade and transportation units.