By IANS,
Kolkata : The Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), which regulates warehouses in the country, Friday said it is hopeful of receiving the central government’s nod to its draft regulations for introducing electronic warehouse receipts.
“We have already prepared the draft regulations and submitted these to the centre. We are waiting for those regulations to be cleared by it,” WRDA chairman Dinesh Rai told mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar on “Negotiable Warehouse Receipts in Warehouses and Cold Storages” here.
Negotiable warehouse receipts are currently issued in paper form.
Rai said the introduction of electronic receipts will help create more options and better price recovery for farmers.
“Once we have electronic receipts, the system will become more effective. Then, it will give more options to the farmers,” he stated.
Rai said commodity exchanges, which will be interested in trading in the electronic negotiable electronic receipts, will have to register with the WRDA.
“Exchanges need to follow certain regulations before trading in such receipts as we have to protect farmers’ interests. These exchanges will have to follow some conditions on net worth and turnover in order to be able to get them registered with the WRDA,” the Chairman said.
The government had constituted WRDA in October 2010 with the aim of regulating and ensuring implementation of provisions of the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, for the development and regulation of warehouses.
The negotiable warehouse receipt system in the country was introduced to avail farmers better credit facilities and avoid distress sales, and also safeguard financial institutions by mitigating risks inherent in credit extension to the agriculturists.