Warehouse receipt
Topic: Agricultural Marketing, MSP, Buffer Stocks and PDS · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A warehouse receipt is a document from a warehouse that confirms goods have been deposited there. It records what was stored, how much, and by whom. The depositor can use it as collateral, meaning security, to get a loan from a bank. So a farmer can raise cash without selling the crop at harvest, when prices are low. This helps prevent distress sales.
Example
A farmer stores 40 quintals of chana in a warehouse and gets a receipt (figures for illustration only). They pledge the receipt with a bank for a loan and sell the chana a few months later, when prices are better.
Don't confuse with
- Negotiable warehouse receipt (NWR): it can be transferred to another person by endorsement, so the stored goods can be traded without delivery. A plain warehouse receipt need not be transferable.
- e-NWR: the digital form of an NWR, issued by WDRA-registered warehouses.
Related concepts
- Post-harvest losses
- Warehouse
- Negotiable warehouse receipt
- Electronic negotiable warehouse receipt
- Cold chain