Govt seeks monthly data to check effective GST reforms implementation

Field officials have to submit the first report on changes in average prices since the revamped GST took effect on Sept 22 by the end of the current month, according to a finance ministry document seen by HT. Such reports will have to be submitted every month for the next six months.

The price reports on 54 items will have details of the commodity, brand and maximum retail price. The list of items include toothpaste, shampoo, butter, television sets, glucometers, ketchup, and jams, cement and ice-creams .

Nearly 3000 complaints related to the new GST regime, which lowered taxes on a raft of goods, have been logged on the national consumer helpline, details of which were are being shared with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) for action, an official of the consumer affairs ministry said.

India on Sept 4 simplified the national consumption tax and slashed its rates, hoping to boost local consumption in an economy coping with steep tariffs imposed by the US.

The government has appealed to manufacturers and sellers to speedily adjust the retail prices of goods to transfer the benefits of a new GST regime to buyers, as the country ushers in an annual festive season when shoppers throng markets and sales peak.

The GST Council approved two rates of 5% and 18% against a four-tiered tax structure earlier. A new 40% slab was added for luxury and “sin” goods, such as high-end cars and tobacco.

“Manufacturers will naturally need some time to transition to the new regime and we are not being harsh immediately. But action will be taken if the benefits are not passed on to consumers after an initial transitional phase,” the official cited above said.

Field teams of the consumer affairs ministry are monitoring prices, especially to detect cases where sellers could make misleading discount offers to avoid passing on the GST cuts, the official added.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been mandated to ensure that businesses pass on the full benefits of reduced GST rates to buyers and violators could be charged with “unfair trade practices”, an offence under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Nidhi Khare, Union consumer affairs secretary, told HT on September 22.