NEW DELHI: It has been 251 days since the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in India. An online survey by LocalCircles revealed that while people were of the view that GST is a better tax collection platform for the government, only a few said that it had benefited consumers.
While 9 per cent of the 20,000 people surveyed, were of the view that GST had translated into lower prices for consumers, about 50 per cent said the cost of eating out had increased.
Asked what the biggest advantage of GST was, 59 per cent said it was better tax collection for the government, 12 per cent said it had made doing business easier, 9 per cent said prices had gone down while 20 per cent were unsure.
Asked what percentage of their monthly purchases were being sold without a GST invoice by the vendor, 16 per cent said none, 33 per cent said it was 0-25 per cent, 34 per cent put it at 25-50 per cent and 17 per cent said it was over 50 per cent.
On eating out costs, 50 per cent it had increased by 0-10 per cent, while 7 per cent said it had reduce by over 10 per cent, 14 per cent said it had reduced by 0-10 per cent and 29 per cent said it was same as pre-GST.
