NEW DELHI: Government has warned of heavy penalty including fine and jail term for the manufacturers for not printing revised price on unsold and new products under the new GST rule.
Union Consumer Affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday warned of a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh and a jail term of up to one year if new post-GST rates are not printed on the inventory in the interest of consumers.
The government has set up a committee to address consumer grievances on GST and even helplines have been increased to 60 from 14 to address tax-related queries, added the minister. Officials said that the move came following complaints of arbitrary taxes on MRP.
Paswan informed that Government has allowed the manufacturers and packers of pre-packaged commodities to declare the changed retail sale price (MRP) on the unsold stock manufactured and packed prior to July 1 after inclusion of the increased amount of tax due to GST, if any, in addition to the existing retail sale price (MRP), for three months till September, 2017.
A day before on Thursday, the consumer affairs ministry decided to ban the 'dual' MRP policy, a practice through which sellers charge a higher MRP for their products in certain spaces like malls, airports and hotels. As per the order, which comes into force starting January 1, 2018, companies will not be allowed to charge a different price for water, soft drinks or snacks at premium locations. Besides, the size of words and numbers for mandatory declarations has been increased so that a consumer can easily read.
Officials said that the decision was taken after an appeal made by the department of legal metrology of Maharashtra (LMO).