Undue profit of over Rs 1 crore to come under GST body

New Delhi: The proposed anti-profiteering authority under the new GST regime will take up for scrutiny only those cases that have mass impact and those where undue profit of more than Rs 1 crore has been earned, a senior government official said.

A five member National Anti-Profiteering Authority, headed by a secretary-level officer, will be set up soon to keep a tab on businesses that have not passed on to consumers the benefit of lower tax rates under the GST regime.

“It will take two-three months time to gauge whether the benefits of GST are being passed on to consumers. By then, the authority would be put in place,” the official told PTI.

As per the three tier structure — the GST Implementation Committee (GIC) will receive complaints and those which are state specific and involving smaller amounts will be transferred to the state screening committee.

Other cases will be referred to the Directorate General of Safeguards who will finish investigation within 3 months and send the findings to the anti-profiteering authority, which will pass an order in another 3-months time.

“The issues which have a national or mass impact will be taken up by the authority. There may be many small cases which would be coming to the GIC, but only those cases where the financial implication is more than Rs 1 crore would be taken up by the authority. Rest would be transferred to the state screening committee,” the official said.

ADG Safeguards will act as secretary to the National Anti-Profiteering Authority and will coordinate between the authority and the DG Safeguards office, the official added.

The CBEC last week appointed Samanjasa Das as the Additional Director General (ADG) Safeguards in the Directorate General of Safeguards. Das was ADG in the directorate general of Central Excise Intelligence.