Bengaluru: Small bakeries and local shops across Karnataka suspended the sale of tea, coffee, and milk on Wednesday as part of a symbolic protest against tax notices issued by the Commercial Tax Department.

The move was aimed at highlighting what traders say is the unfair targeting of small-scale vendors.

Wearing black badges, shopkeepers across the state participated in the one-day agitation, expressing growing frustration over recent GST notices served to micro and small businesses.

Trader associations have demanded that the government withdraw the notices and ease enforcement norms for small vendors. They warned that protests would intensify if their concerns were not addressed.

Speaking on behalf of the vendors, a member of the Karnataka Pradesh Street Vendors Association, Abhilash Shetty, said, "Small businesses run with a margin of 5 to 10 per cent... The tax (GST) along with other things like penalty, comes to 50% and it is not possible for the vendors to pay such a huge tax with this. We request the government to interfere and give relaxation to the small vendors in this matter..."

The association's legal representative, Advocate Shakuntala, echoed the sentiment, criticising the government for failing to educate small vendors about their tax obligations when registering their businesses.

She said, "If taxes are being imposed, why were they not educated first?... When they took the registration, they should have been made aware about the taxes on selling of goods, revenue..."

In Haveri, a vegetable trader named Shankar Gowda Hadimani shared his concern after receiving a ?29 lakh tax notice from the Bengaluru Tax Office.

He stated, "... Since there are no GST rules on fruits and vegetables, I did not register for GST number. But I got a notice to pay Rs 29 lakh in taxes for a business of over Rs 40 lakh... The officials have told me that if it is proven that I have done so much business in vegetables, the notice will be withdrawn..."