Letters: Hidden charges

While a debate rages over the increase in food prices in restaurants consequent to the reduction in the GST, there are other areas where the public is being fleeced as some people make a neat penny

While a debate rages over the increase in food prices in restaurants consequent to the reduction in the goods and services tax (GST), there are other areas where the public is being fleeced as some people make a neat penny. Take the price of a gas cylinder in Mumbai. It is Rs 713.50. You may not have change for Rs 3.50 so you give Rs 715 and of course the delivery boy will never have chhutta (change). Even if you have change for Rs 3 it is unlikely you will have 50 paise, the lowest coin. So you forgo that by paying Rs 714. Now, at the individual level it is a very small amount, but gross it up daily and see the monthly total. That is the hidden charge you pay. And it is tax-free for them. Definitely this is a small arrangement between the gas companies and the dealers. This is a variation of the one-cent fraud, where a computer programmer for a bank fixed the computer to deduct one cent from the end of day balances of every account and credit his account.  T R Ramaswami Mumbai

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