New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Enforcement Directorate will be free to arrest any trader with the Centre's latest amendment in the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and asserted that it would oppose this "anti-trader" policy of the Narendra Modi government.

The Opposition party's assertion came after the Union Finance Ministry, through a notification, brought in an amendment to the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as per which GSTN, which handles the technology backbone of the Goods and Services Tax, has been included in the list of entities with which ED will share information.

Also Read | Delhi Police Special Cell Busts Inter-State Arms Trafficking Syndicate Operating From Madhya Pradesh, Notorious Supplier Who Smuggled Over 1,500 Weapons Arrested.

Reacting to the development, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera claimed that with the GST being brought under the PMLA, the ED will be free to arrest any trader.

He said the Congress has been strongly advocating the need to simplify the GST.

Also Read | Smoke in Vivek Express: Panic Grips Passengers of Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari Vivek Express After Detecting Smoke in the Train Near Brahmapur Railway Station (Watch Video).

"We will oppose this anti-trader policy of the Modi government, as this endangers millions of traders who are at the receiving end of a complicated GST regime," Khera said in a tweet.

According to the amendment to the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, GSTN has been included in the list of entities with which the ED will share information.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)