Prerequisite 17 of 21

Single-window tax at APMCs

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17Partially built

The 2015 proposal

A single-window, uniform tax at APMCs replacing multi-point market fees, with prices online 24×7.

Where it stands in 2026

Half of this is done and the remaining half is precisely diagnosed. GST (2017) folded a thicket of indirect taxes into one, and Agmarknet now publishes daily arrivals and prices for roughly 3,000 markets — the transparency the deck wanted. But the mandi fee itself is a state subject and remains a patchwork: a market fee plus rural-development cess and commission that historically reached around 8.5% in Punjab against 1–2% in many other states. Every percentage point of that wedge is a tax on moving grain across a state line, fragmenting what should be one national market.

The open gap

GST unified the tax; the patchwork of state mandi fees (~8.5% in Punjab vs ~1–2% elsewhere) that re-fragments the market has not.

The path to close it

GST unified the indirect tax; the wedge that remains is the patchwork of state mandi fees (historically ~8.5% in Punjab versus ~1–2% elsewhere), which quietly re-erects the inter-state barriers the deck set out to remove. Push a model fee cap and a single unified market charge that clears across states — the e-NAM unified-licence idea, where one registration lets a trader operate in any linked mandi — through the inter-state council and the centre’s model APLM Act, and rebate the fee transparently into the market infrastructure farmers actually use. Borrow the EU single-market principle already cited for the inter-state-barriers prerequisite: goods that have cleared once should move freely thereafter. The aim is one charge, charged once, visible to all — so a farmer’s choice of where to sell turns on the best price, not the lowest fee.

Specifications — what “built” requires

Illustrative — a proposed specification and sequence, not an official government roadmap.

Acceptance criteria

  • A single unified market charge that clears across states — one charge, charged once.
  • A model fee cap adopted through the inter-state council / model APLM Act.
  • An e-NAM unified licence: one registration to trade in any linked mandi.
  • Fees rebated transparently into market infrastructure.
  • The EU single-market principle: goods cleared once move freely thereafter.

Technical spec

Charge
single unified market fee; capped; non-cascading
Licence
e-NAM unified trader licence (multi-mandi, multi-state)
Mechanism
inter-state council + model APLM Act adoption
Rebate
fee → market-infrastructure fund (audited)
Interop
e-way bill + ULIP one-step compliance
Principle
clear-once-move-freely (EU single market)

Roadmap to built — phase 1 → 2 → 3

Illustrative — a proposed specification and sequence, not an official government roadmap.

  1. 1
    Phase 1 · Now

    Cap the wedge

    Adopt a model market-fee cap through the inter-state council and model APLM Act.

    A ceiling on the state-fee patchwork.

  2. 2
    Phase 2 · 6–12 months

    One licence to trade

    Roll out the e-NAM unified licence — one registration to trade in any linked mandi.

    Traders move across mandis and states on one identity.

  3. 3
    Phase 3 · 12–24 months

    One charge, charged once

    Replace the patchwork with a single unified market charge that clears across states, rebated to infrastructure.

    One charge, charged once — built.

See it working: Market prices →

Where it sits in the chain

See the full map →

Depends on

Enables

Nothing yet — this is a capstone of the chain.

Sources