The government on November 24 notified changes to empower the Competition Commission of India to take charge of matters relating to the antiprofiteering provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, starting December 1.
What is profiteering?
- In terms of Section 171 of the CGST Act, 2017, the suppliers of goods and services should pass on the benefit of any reduction in the rate of tax or the benefit of input tax credit to the recipients by way of commensurate reduction in prices.
- The wilful action of not passing on the above benefits to the recipients in the manner prescribed is known as “profiteering”
Key points
- The CCI will now be entrusted with assessing whether firms have passed on benefits of GST rate reductions or input tax credits through commensurate price reductions for consumers.
- The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established in March 2009 by Government of India under the Competition Act, 2002 for the administration, implementation, and enforcement of the Act.
- It is the statutory duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants, in markets in India as provided in the Preamble as well as Section 18 of the Act.
