Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the government is monitoring to ensure that benefits of the recent GST reforms reach consumers in the form of reduced prices of items they purchase.
Addressing a press conference on GST Bachat Utsav, she said the government has been monitoring price cuts in 54 items across the country since the lowered GST rates came into effect on September 22.
“The GST rate cuts have reflected in increase of consumer purchases. The drive for consumption will continue,” Sitharaman said, according to media reports.
“We are convinced that benefits on such items are being passed on by companies to consumers.”
In some items, businesses have even passed on to consumers higher than the weighted-average GST rate cut benefits.
Sitharaman said the Department of Consumer Affairs has received 3,169 complaints related to non-reduction in prices commensurate with GST cuts. Of this, 3,075 complaints have been forwarded to nodal officers in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) for resolution while 94 complaints have been resolved.
The department will enable a functionality on the grievance reporting portal so that the complaints can be forwarded to the chief commissioners of the respective zones from where complaints have come in, the minister said.
After the recent GST reforms, the new rates kicked in from September 22, resulting in slashing of prices of nearly 375 items, ranging from toothpaste and shampoo to cars and television sets.
Tax rates of 5, 12, 18, and 28 percent were clubbed into two rates of 5 percent and 18 percent. These moves reduced prices of 99 percent of daily use items.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Electronics, Information Technology, and Railways Ashwani Vaishnaw, who was also present, said that additional electronics consumption worth Rs. 20 lakh crore is expected to take place this year due to the GST reforms.
Data from retail chains shows there were 20-25 percent more sales in comparison to last year’s Navaratri. Many items, such as 85-inch TV sets, have seen stocks completely sold out.
“The increase in demand for electronics goods is directly impacting electronics manufacturing, which is now growing at a double-digit CAGR. This year, consumption is expected to increase more than 10 percent, translating into extra consumption worth Rs 20 lakh crore compared to last year,” Vaishnaw said.