Anti-profiteering provisions

• The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state finance ministers as members, recently approved the anti-profiteering rules.
• Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax throughout India to replace taxes levied by the central and state governments. It was introduced as The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Second Amendment) Act 2017, following the passage of Constitution 122nd Amendment Bill.
• Clause 171 has been inserted in the GST bill which makes it obligatory to pass on the benefit due to reduction in rate of tax or from input tax credit to the consumer by way of commensurate reduction in prices.
• Lok Sabha has finally passed the GST bills and is all set to be introduced as the biggest tax reform in our country. Once implemented, GST is expected to bring down the prices of goods, however it is also expected that the sellers and manufacturers may not pass on the benefits to the consumers.
• The Section 171 of the Central GST Act provides that any reduction in rate of tax on any supply of goods or services or the benefit of input tax credit will be passed on to the recipient by way of proportionate reduction in prices

National Anti-Profiteering Authority

• The National Anti-Profiteering Authority shall have wide ranging powers which includes the ability to:
• Issue notices to anybody that it feels warrants a “fair probing”, as per the guidelines by the GST Council.
• Order a reduction in prices of the commodity.
• Impose a penalty, if deemed necessary
• Cancel the registration of a company
• “The Authority shall, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the report from the Director-General of Safeguards, determine whether a registered person has passed on the reduction in rate of tax on the supply of goods or services or the benefit of input tax credit to the recipient by way of a commensurate reduction in price”, the rule states