Are anti-profiteering provisions legal?

Since the govt claims its biggest achievement after one year of GST is to have kept inflation in check, the question is, will the continued existence of anti-profiteering provisions serve any purpose?

The anti-profiteering provisions are the most talked about and debated provisions of the one-year-old Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. With the roll-out of the GST regime, Parliament, as a populist measure, introduced the concept of anti-profiteering in the law. This provision, simply put, meant that if a business enjoys increased tax credits and reduced rates of taxes, the benefit should be transferred to consumers through a reduction in prices. The idea was to curb any inflation triggered by a change in the indirect taxation system, keeping the interest of the ultimate consumer in mind.

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