GST cut: Centre monitoring price reduction by e-commerce platforms

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The Centre is monitoring whether the GST rate cut benefits on FMCG items are being passed on by e-commerce platforms, government sources said on Tuesday.

Amid complaints of not commensurate price reduction of daily essential items being sold on some e-commerce platforms, sources said the field formations are monitoring the price changes.

"We are monitoring the price changes. Field formations are monitoring, and we will get the first report from them by September 30," a source said.

"We do not want a knee-jerk reaction to such complaints," the source said.

Effective September 22, Goods and Services Tax (GST) has become a two-tier structure of 5 and 18 per cent. The earlier rates of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent have been clubbed into two rates of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, resulting in a reduced price of 99 per cent of daily use items.

Although the anti-profiteering mechanism has not been enabled for complaints relating to profiteering, the government has been monitoring the pricing, and various companies have themselves come forward and said they are passing on tax cut benefits by reducing prices.

On September 9, the finance ministry had written to Central GST field officers to submit a monthly report of price changes in 54 commonly used items. The first report on the comparative details of the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of these commodities, brand-wise, will have to be submitted to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) by September 30.

The list of 54 items includes butter, shampoo, toothpaste, tomato ketchup, jams, ice cream, AC, TV, all diagnostic kits, Glucometer, bandages, thermometer, erasers, crayons, and cement, among others.