The auction of tea at the North Bengal Tea Auction Centre (NBTAC) in Jalpaiguri has been halted since last week because of a low inflow of the produce, barely two months after the facility reopened.

The Jalpaiguri auction centre opened in 2008. However, as teas stopped coming to the centre for auction, it closed down in 2014.

“We had put in efforts for years and could finally resume the auction process in May this year after over a decade. However, on the past two auction dates, teas stopped coming as buyers were not attending the auction at the centre,” said Sanjay Dhanoti, chairman of the task force formed to reopen the centre.

He pointed out that when the auction started, around 95 per cent of teas were coming from bought-leaf factories (BLFs) or standalone tea processing units, which buy tealeaves from small growers and process them.

“But the buyers were facing a problem. After buying teas through auction and making online payments, they were getting the invoices late. As a result, they could not get the teas delivered from the warehouses where teas are stored ahead of auctions. That is why they have stopped participating in auctions, and as a result, we have stopped sending teas because there are no buyers,” Dhanoti, who is also the president of North Bengal Tea Producers’ Welfare Association (an organisation of BLF owners), said.

He pointed out that because of the delay in issuing invoices, the brokers and buyers could not load the teas from the warehouses for further transport.

“We have written to the Tea Board, seeking simplification of the process to issue the invoices. It has to be ensured that an arrangement is made so that the buyers and brokers receive the invoices on the same day when they make the payment. We are waiting for further moves by the Tea Board,” added Dhanoti.

According to NBTAC sources, since May, teas have been sold on four auction dates. During this period, altogether 16,279 kilos of tea were auctioned off. The highest and the lowest auction prices were ₹193 and ₹116.32, respectively, per kilo.

“However, on July 28, when an auction was supposed to be held, no tea was put on auction. The situation was similar on August 4 when no tea was auctioned,” said a source.

Purajit Bakshigupta, the vice-chairman of NBTAC, said they were making efforts to resolve the problems.

“We are hopeful that the problems will be solved and the tea auction will resume here,” he said.

Samaresh Mondal, the assistant director of the Tea Board posted in Jalpaiguri, could not be contacted. Calls made to him went unanswered.