CA Online

To ensure that the prices are reduced, the anti-profiteering authority was set up in November last year MNCs which were pulled up for not cutting prices post GST implementation have argued before the anti-profiteering authority that prices of some products could not be lowered as there was difficulty in adjusting them to decimal points.  The authority, in turn, has asked these MNCs why they could not adjust the quantity so that the benefit of GST rate cut could be passed on to the consumers. The authority, sources said, asked the Multinational Companies (MNCs) to follow the rules laid down in The Legal Metrology Act while fixing the price to the nearest decimal point.  Some companies have argued that they reduced the prices of large packets but could not do the same for smaller packets and sachets, in some cases, as the quantum of price reduction was very low in decimal points, sources told PTI. In a lot of cases the reasoning given by the MNCs for not passing on the r...

MANY PARTICIPANTS don’t see a change in the stance in favour of an extended period of rate hardening India’s central bank may raise the benchmark reference rate by a quarter percentage point for the second time in two months, citing upside risks to inflation, an ET survey ahead of this week’s bi-monthly policy meeting on setting broader financing costs showed. In the poll conducted among 22 market participants, more than half the respondents said they expect an increase of 25 basis points in the crucial rate, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continuing its vigil on prices after the Monetary Policy Committee had raised the cost of financing in June — the first increase since the Narendra Modi administration was voted into power.  “There has been an incremental deterioration in the inflation outlook since the June RBI policy meeting,” said Shashank Mendiratta, India economist at ANZ bank. “The RBI has been highlighting several long-standing risks to inflation. The key ones ...

After the July 21 rate revisions, the number of companies unwilling to pass on GST benefits is higher than after the Novemeber 2017 round of rate revisions.  The latest round of rate revisions introduced by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on July 21 has led to a peculiar situation. The number of companies unwilling to pass on GST benefits is higher than in previous rounds.  While the November 2017 round of rate revisions saw mainly eating joints unwilling to pass on GST benefits, this time round, sanitary napkin makers, TV manufacturers and even paint companies have said passing on GST benefits is not a feasible exercise. Firms in each of these categories have their reasons for the resistance. The Feminine and Infant Hygiene Association (FIHA), which represents the country's top sanitary napkin makers including Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark and Unicharm, said the decision of putting the item on the exempt list was unlikely to achieve ...