3. Freedom to conduct trade and commerce in a trade area.—Subject to the provisions of this
Act, any farmer or trader or electronic trading and transaction platform shall have the freedom to
carry on the inter-State or intra-State trade and commerce in farmers’ produce in a trade area.
4. Trade and commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce.—(1) Any trader may engage in the
inter-State trade or intra-State trade of scheduled farmers’ produce with a farmer or another trader in a
trade area:
Provided that no trader, except the farmer producer organisations or agricultural co-operative
society, shall trade in any scheduled farmers’ produce unless such a trader has a permanent account
number allotted under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) or such other document as may be
notified by the Central Government.
(2) The Central Government may, if it is of the opinion that it is necessary and expedient in the
public interest so to do, prescribe a system for electronic registration for a trader, modalities of trade
transaction and mode of payment of the scheduled farmers’ produce in a trade area.
(3) Every trader who transacts with farmers shall make payment for the traded scheduled farmers’
produce on the same day or within the maximum three working days if procedurally so required
subject to the condition that the receipt of delivery mentioning the due payment amount shall be given
to the farmer on the same day:
Provided that the Central Government may prescribe a different procedure of payment by farmer
produce organisation or agriculture co-operative society, by whatever name called, linked with the
receipt of payment from the buyers.
5. Electronic trading and transaction platform.—(1) Any person (other than individual),
having a permanent account number allotted under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) or such
other document as may be notified by the Central Government or any farmer producer organisation or
agricultural co-operative society may establish and operate an electronic trading and transaction
platform for facilitating inter-State or intra-State trade and commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce
in a trade area:
Provided that the person establishing and operating an electronic trading and transaction platform
shall prepare and implement the guidelines for fair trade practices such as mode of trading, fees,
technical parameters including inter-operability with other platforms, logistics arrangments, quality
assessment, timely payment, dissemination of guidelines in local language of the place of operation of
the platform and such other matters.
(2) If the central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary and expedient in public interest
so to do, it may, for electronic trading platforms, by rules—
(a) specify the procedure, norms, manner of registration; an
(b) specify the code of conduct, technical parameters including inter-operability with other
platform and modalities of trade transaction including logistics arrangements and quality
assessment of scheduled farmers’ produce and mode of payment,
For facilitating fair inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce in a
trade area.
6. Market fee under State APMC Act, etc., in trade area.—No market fee or cess or levy, by
whatever name called, under any State APMC Act or any other State law, shall be levied on any
farmer or trader or electronic trading and transaction platform for trade and commerce in scheduled
farmers’ produce in a trade area.
7. Price Information and Market Intelligence System.—(1) The Central Government may,
through any Central Government Organisation, develop a Price Information and Market Intelligence
System for farmers’ produce and a framework for dissemination of information relating thereto.
(2) The Central Government may require any person owning and operating an electronic trading
and transaction platform to provide information regarding such transactions as may be prescribed.
Explanation.––For the purposes of this section, the expression ―Central Government
Organisation‖ includes any subordinate or attached office, Government owned or promoted company
or society