Antiprofiteering authority to be ready in two weeks: CBEC chief

Businesses will shortly have a new regulator taking a penetrating gaze over their affairs. The proposed anti-profiteering authority that will monitor pricing behaviour of businesses will be up and running in a fortnight, said Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairperson Vanaja N Sarna.

A selection panel led by cabinet secretary PK Sinha has asked states to suggest candidates for the five-member authority, including the chairperson, while the Union government has sent a list of its nominees to states for state-level screening panels that are part of the authority’s ecosystem, said the CBEC chairperson.

State-level panels will watch out for instances of businesses not passing on tax benefits to consumers in the GST regime.

During the two-year transition into the GST regime that started in July, the National Anti-profiteering Authority will step in and ask businesses that have not passed on full benefits of a reduced tax burden to consumers to make up for it with interest.

“We are expecting nominations (to the Authority) from states in two weeks. As soon as all these names come in, the Authority will be ready,” said Sarna. We have not exited the oil and gas business. We still have coal-based methane. We still have Essar Oil UK refinery. We don’t have any plans to re-enter the refining and distribution business. Tax implications are based on the laws of the land. Part of it (the deal) will be in India and part will be in Mauritius. Based on the laws, whatever tax is applicable will have to be met. It’s too early to determine. We have said ₹70,000 crore is more than 50%, the balance will be less. The key part that has been missed is Essar’s strength to create world-class assets, starting from scratch in core sectors. We did that in telecom. We made certain investments over a period of 10 years and then we exited after selling to Vodafone. We