The apple grower, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, had supplied a consignment of apples to a city-based trader in December 2014. After failing to receive about 40% payment from the trader for six months, Bhat approached the APMC.
The matter was brought before the disputes' committee which conducted hearings and finally a cheque amounting to the dues was handed over to Bhat on Sunday by guardian minister Girish Bapat.
He also supplies apple consignments to markets in Mumbai and Delhi, and had sent the consignment to Pune for the first time.
Dhananjay Doiphode, secretary of APMC, said, "We have a disputes committee that looks into cases wherein farmers face problems over non-payment of dues, delays in payments and traders not cooperating with the farmers. The committee, in this particular case, conducted a hearing and asked the trader to deposit the remaining amount with the APMC. Action was also proposed against trader for non-payment of dues in the stipulated time period. The case was handled as per the provisions of the APMC Act, 1963," Doiphode said.
According to Pravin Patil, who helped Bhat, "The trader had handed over about 60% payment to Bhat. However, after repeated follow-ups Bhat failed to get the remaining amount after which we approached the APMC."
