Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Saifai at Lucknow and Kanpur

Saifai Mahotsava may be happening at this small village in Etawah. But right here in Lucknow and Kanpur, there are some people who are reaping benefits without even setting a foot on the soil of Saifai.
It is common knowledge that the State Government waves off the tax on sale of automobiles at the Saifai Mahotsava. This generous discounting results in a discount ranging from 10 to 15% on various cars and two-wheelers. For instance, on a car worth 4 lakh rupees, one can get a discount up to Rs. 50000. This is the reason why car and two-wheeler buyers of UP wait for Saifai to come so that they can avail this discount and line up in hordes at Saifai to do the purchase.
Not any more! Automobile dealers in Kanpur and Lucknow (and at places like Agra too) have devised a more interesting plan of delivering your vehicle right here in these cities, without you having to go to Saifai in this chilling cold. For this service, they are charging a token amount of few thousand rupees. All the papers and formalities remain their headache while the vehicle is delivered here itself along with the discount.
Says an automotive dealer who doesn’t wish to be named: “The discount given by the Government is through exemption of tax, hence our profitability does not suffer because of this. From our profit, we have to pay 10,000 rupees per car to certain important people (name withheld) if we go to Saifai. This payment is not done on records. Therefore, even if we do not sell the car from Saifai, these important people ensure that we can sell the car from here itself. All they need is their money. The buyer too is happy that he does not have to go all the way to that remote village in this cold and wait in queues to get the formalities done. He is more than willing to pay the 6000-7000 rupees that we charge for delivering the car here itself inclusive of all the paperwork, etc. In this way, we are able to recover some of the money that we had to shelve out.”
Thousands of vehicles are sold every year at Saifai. This new arrangement is even better for everybody. The buyers are happy because they get a good discount, without even having to go to Saifai. The dealers are happy because their sales get enhanced. Through recovering a major portion of the dole that they have to pay, from the buyers, they ensure that their profitability per car does not get reduced. The organizers of Saifai are happy because of all the limelight and attention they get. Even the ‘important people’ are happy who charge a good amount for every vehicle sold from Saifai. It is a win-win situation for all. The only loser is the State exchequer. But who cares!

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