Jaitley asks industry to pass on GST rate cuts to consumers

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today asked the industry to pass on the benefits arising from tax rate reduction due to GST roll out to consumers in a transparent manner.
"The overall incidence of tax after implementation of GST will be less especially in case of the consumer goods than the present incidence of tax, therefore, it is imperative on part of the trade and industry to pass on these benefits to the consumers at large," Jaitley said.
In a meeting with industry chambers ahead of tomorrow's midnight launch of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley asked them to ensure that all benefits arising due to implementation of GST from July 1, 2017, are passed on to the consumers in a transparent manner.

Jaitley said he was "sure" that GST will not have any inflationary impact and asked the industry to educate distributors, retailers and consumers about the positive impact of GST on the price front.
The industry, on their part, assured the government that benefit of price reduction would be passed on the consumers.
They also put forward their concerns and asked the Government to issue certain clarifications to remove any doubt or confusion among the traders, a finance ministry statement said.

According to industry representatives, it would take about three months to assess the impact of GST on prices.
Jyotsna Suri, CMD Bharat Hotels, said the hotel industry is very much ready for GST roll out and there is not going to be any price rise.

"We assured him (Jaitley) we are ready for the roll out. Even if this was rolled out after six months, we would have same amount of panic. We will take it in its stride," Suri said.