Post the slashing of Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on nearly 375 items by the GTS Council, any complaints against failure of any industry to pass on the benefits of price reduction to consumers will be taken by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), said the body’s chairman, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal.
The new rates of commodities will be implemented from September 22, and comprise lowered taxes as per the latest overhaul by the GST Council, which reduced the number of tax slabs from four to two: 5 per cent and 18 per cent slabs.
While a 5 per cent GST will be levied for most common-use goods, there will be an 18 per cent on almost everything else besides luxury goods. The GST Council took a unanimous decision to do away with the 12 and 28 per cent slabs, the biggest rejig in 8 years since the GST was rolled out on July 1, 2017.
Agarwal said he is confident the industry will pass on the rate cut benefits to the consumers, but the CBIC has set up a mechanism wherein complaints against industries that have not been implementing the rate cuts can be registered.
Also Read: GST effect: Mahindra, Toyota slash prices
"We are confident that the industry will pass on the benefits to the ultimate consumers, and in case there are any complaints received by us, we will take it up with the industry bodies," he said.
The GST law stipulates that trade and industry need to pass on GST cut benefits to customers. To ensure this happens, an anti-profiteering authority was also set up during the earlier years of GST rollout, wherein consumers can file complaints, along with bills or invoice receipts, regarding any non-reduction in prices post GST implementation.
However, Agarwal said not too many applications were filed with the authority when major rate cut exercises were undertaken in 2017, 2018 and 2019, which implies that benefits were mostly being passed on by relevant industries.
"That gives the impression that mostly the benefits were passed on by the industry to the end consumers. So, we are not expecting a different situation this time," he said.
Also, he added, there are competitive forces at play in the market, which will bring about price reduction in the hands of the buyers.
There were only 704 cases registered under the anti-profiteering mechanism in the past, with 60 per cent of the cases being initiated within the first 3-4 years of implementation. The total profiteering amount that was alleged was ₹4,362 crore in 704 cases.
The government announced March 31, 2025, as the sunset date for receiving profiteering complaints.
Follow us
