Govt leans on quick commerce for real-time price checks after GST rate cuts

One of the sources said that 90 percent of the benefits have likely been passed to consumer through lower retail prices while only 10 percent of niggling issues remain.

The central government, including the commerce ministry, is relying on real time data from quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart, Zepto, BigBasket, Flipkart Minutes and others to monitor whether brands are passing on the reduced goods and services tax (GST) rates to consumers, people familiar with the developments told Moneycontrol.

Some of the aforementioned platforms have also been asked by the government to showcase savings made on account of the GST rate cuts, sources said, adding that this strategy is key to ensuring that tax reductions are leading to lower retail prices on a daily basis and the savings are explicity visible to consumers.

One of the sources, cited above, said while 90 percent of the benefits have likely been passed on to consumers through lower retail prices, some niggling issues remain in the 10 percent which are being ironed out.

This is the first time quick commerce platforms are being monitored closely. It comes after rapid delivery platforms -- like Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart, BigBasket, Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes  -- have grown in prominence and are increasingly becoming a part of peoples' lives.

The industry has gone from near zero to a $7.5 billion market in a span of five years. Quick commerce firms were clocking negligible orders in 2020 but have now scaled to a billion orders in a single year in 2025. The rapid rise is primarily due to quick commerce going from a good-to-have feature for most companies to an offer that is increasingly a must-have for most firms dabbling in the space.

“Monitoring prices on quick commerce platforms helps because these platforms are aggregators hence making it easier to track multiple brands on one platform,” a second source said.

For context, the top three firms: Eternal-owned Blinkit, Swiggy's Instamart and Zepto together deliver over 45 lakh orders each day, making them a good barometer to track progress.

Blinkit, Instamart, Zepto, Flipkart and BigBasket did not reply to Moneycontrol's request for comments.

The new GST regime, which kicked in on September 22, simplified the rate structure to two slabs – 5 percent and 18 percent replacing the previous multi-tiered system.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the government is closely tracking whether companies are lowering prices for consumers following the GST rate cuts with 50 products across categories under review.

Various ministries are using different means to keep a check on price changes in a bid to ensure that consumers enjoy the benefit of lower indirect taxes, the first source said.

On September 29, consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said the department received more than 3,000 complaints of companies failing to pass on the benefits of lower GST to consumers.

Ensuring that benefits of lower GST rates reach consumers is key to boosting consumption especially during the ongoing festive season when individuals tend to loosen their purse strings.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month said that the GST rate cuts will inject Rs 2 lakh crore into the economy with lower taxes on more than 375 essential goods and services.