AHMEDABAD (Commodity Online): Traders in Agra and UP belt with strong cold storage chains, have targeted predominantly agri commodity bourse, NCDEX, for quality concerns. The exchange has refuted the charges as baseless and incorrect.
It all started when Purshottam Nagpal of Pooja Cold Storage Pvt. Ltd complained to NCDEX with a copy to major newspapers that the exchange is hand in glove with unscrupulous elements in the delivery process.
“We are not allowed to inspect our NCDEX delivered lots by cold storage owners, majority of potato delivery tenders are cold storage owners ‘ themselves ’ of the approved cold storage in nexus with representative of potato “Quality Certification Agency” get their lots passed without samples approvals. NCDEX Delivery lots have only one common ISIN Number, under this number, thousands of potato packets have been together passed and Quality Certified by NCDEX passing authority. They have no specific potato lots and number of packets Quality Certified in each lots,” some of the few complaints listed by Nagpal.
A deluge of complaints then began to pour in and in some cases it was regarding Red Chilli while in other it was Steel.
“The allegations on delivery process as forwarded by you are baseless and incorrect. Large quantities (over 50,000 MT) of commodities are delivered through Exchange every month. In fact, NCDEX is known to be the Exchange for deliveries”, M K Ananda Kumar, Chief – Corporate Services said in an email reply to Commodity Online.
Ananda Kumar further clarified that Two of the complaints pertain to potato delivery which is a compulsory delivery contract. Participants having open long position are bound to take physical delivery on expiry of contract. It is apparent that these complainants are making allegations about quality because prices fell and these complainants wanted to avoid taking physical delivery. The last expiring contract of the Exchange in 2011 was in September. Potato especially being perishable in nature, the complainants should have made arrangements to lift the stocks purchased by them in time. They did not do so and in October they started complaining, without actually getting the stocks tested as per procedure prescribed by the Exchange.
It is apparent that they had started complaining in October, he further added, because prices fell and these complainants wanted to avoid taking physical delivery. The complaints were made to the Exchange and were responded appropriately. The allegations of lower quality are incorrect and malafide. The allegations that cold storage did not allow them to inspect, that warehouse treated the participants as enemies, etc. are afterthought and malicious.
The exchange has sent to legal notice to Nagpal but he seems to be relentless and seems to be gathering more people against his version of the complaint.
