NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the government has kept a check on several items to ensure that the benefits of GST reforms are reaching consumers in the form of reduced prices. She confirmed that government has been monitoring price cuts in 54 items across the country.
“On these 54 particular items in which we have been getting inputs from the zonal areas, from the various zones of information, we are convinced that on every such item the benefits are being passed on to the consumer. In fact, I have item-wise item-wise what is the tax reduction, how much has gone to the consumer, which I have compiled for our benefit sake, overall for all the zones. So we are convinced that the rate reduction is actually reaching the common people and that is why I think a lot of people who belong to the sectors are commenting openly and there is a compilation,” said the Finance Minister during a briefing on Saturday.
From dairy products to electronics, the government has keep an eye on the sector to ensure the consumers get the benefits. She even affirmed that in several items, businesses passed on higher than expected GST rate cuts to consumers. The Union minister highlighted that electronic items sale surged significantly with AC sales doubling on the very first day GST reforms kicked in, on September 22, while TV sales saw an 30-35 percent increase.
She asserted that the government is confident that the momentum will retain even after the festive season and this should not be considered just as festive sale spurge. Despite having a positive response from the industry, the government is taking up the cases of GST violations that have come to the Department of Consumer Affairs.
The Department of Consumer Affairs has received 3,169 complaints alleging that price cuts were not passed on – of which 3,075 have been
forwarded for action; 94 have been resolved.