Excise board notifies anti-profiteering rule

In tune with the 1 July roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax regime, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on 20 June notified the anti-profiteering rule approved by the GST Council on 18 June.

The anti-profiteering authority, comprising a Chairman and four technical members nominated by the Council, will identify registered persons/businessmen who have not passed on the benefit of reduced tax on goods/services or benefit of input tax credit to recipients by way of reduced prices.

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It has the power to impose penalty on offenders and even cancel the registration of the trader(s).

The rule will apply to all states except Jammu and Kashmir.

The anti-profiteering authority will have a sunset clause of two years, meaning it will cease to exist thereafter.

The Council had approved the structure and rules relating to an anti-profiteering authority in its June 18 meeting.

"We want to keep it as a deterrent and hope we are not compelled to use the authority," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that under the proposed authority, a company can be asked to roll back the prices and also refund an amount equal to the profit it has made through the hike in prices.