April 1: The Centre today pushed ahead with a nation-wide value added tax despite continued protests from traders who warned of chaos, shortages and price shocks.

Traders downed shutters in several trading centres all over the country and warned of chaotic times ahead as 20 states, including Bengal, brought in the new tax measure.

?It is still very chaotic. Forms for VAT payments and inter-state trade are not available. Bureaucrats don?t seem to know what they are supposed to do?. I think the first few weeks are going to be extremely troublesome for all traders,? said Soumein Mondol of Bengal Auto, an auto-parts dealer in Old Delhi.

People thronged state revenue offices trying to figure out how things will work. Thousands of traders staged rallies and sit-ins across the states in which the tax was implemented, calling for a rollback.

However, officials termed the changeover a success. ?Twenty states have switched over to VAT today. Meghalaya will join them next week,? the member secretary of the empowered committee on VAT, Ramesh Chandra, said in the capital.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit defended the tax reform move. ?Today is only the first day of VAT. Its impact will become known in the days to come. We will check for any problems that consumers or traders may face because of VAT,? she said. Dikshit indicated changes could be made in the law should hitches crop up.

Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta, the chairman of the empowered committee, also reassured the traders. There is no reason for traders to fear VAT as it will be beneficial for them, he said at Writers? Buildings. Eighteen states have issued notifications and talks are on with the others, he said.

However, the Bengal finance minister struck a note of caution for the traders. ?The government is keeping an eye open to see if prices of products are being increased artificially and firm action would be taken,? he said.

The traders said they would decide on their next course of action next week. The Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations said its all-India trade bodies would chalk out plans at a meeting in Jaipur on April 6 and 7.

?Our agitation against VAT will continue,? said Mahesh Singhania of the Federation of West Bengal Trade Associations.

Confusion would not be the only cost in introducing the new system, traders said. ?The kind of VAT being brought in will result in a steep hike in prices that will hit traders, consumers and the economy,? said Praveen Khandelwal, the secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders.