Anti-profiteering body gets 2 members, steps up hearings
BENGALURU: India’s anti-profiteering watchdog has swung into action after a year, with two new members joining it, and is likely to issue orders in the coming months in cases involving Cloudtail, Loreal India, Logix, Prestige Estates, DLF and Hiranandani Group, among others.
With over 200 cases piled up, the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) has expedited the number of hearings even as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council mulls over its fate. With its tenure set to end in November, the NAA is expected to pass orders in a slew of cases in the coming months—over 100 hearings are scheduled till midmay alone.
According to the anti-profiteering rules under GST, “Benefits of input tax credit should have been passed on to the recipient by way of commensurate reduction in prices.”
“The NAA’S work was affected last year with the lack of quorum as there were vacant positions.
However, with the two new members joining in the last week of February, the authority has started functioning well and is holding 5-6 hearings a day for various cases,” said a government official.
To pass a judicial order, a quorum of three is required, which was not there following the vacancies since April 29, 2021.
After a gap of nearly a year, the NAA issued two orders in April—on Lodha and Alton India. Its previous order—in the case of Dough Makers—was way back in March 2021.
The GST Council decided last year that it will explore bringing anti-profiteering cases under the Competition Commission of India. In the meantime, it extended the NAA’S tenure in view of the large caseload. However, the directorate general of anti-profiteering has already submitted its reports in the 206 cases piled up so far. Around 39 cases are being currently probed by the DGAP.
“While there is talk of ending the term of NAA, the fact remains that such a body will be needed till the time the possibility of a further GST rate reduction. Besides items like petroleum, alcohol and a part of real estate are still out of the ambit of GST, which will be introduced at a later stage, requiring the antiprofiteering to stay for a longer term,” said another official.
M.S. Mani, partner, Deloitte India said it was essential to complete the cases pending with the NAA soon so that the impacted businesses get time to review the verdict and evaluate remedies.