There will be no change in profiteering formula once anti-profiteering mechanism is handed over to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) – Shri Vivek Johri – CBIC Chairman

In an interview to Business Line, on being asked “Will there be any change in profiteering formula once anti-profiteering mechanism is handed over to the Competition Commission of India (CCI)?”, CBIC Chairman Vivek Johri said that there will be no change in profiteering formula once anti-profiteering mechanism is handed over to the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

He further told that even anti-profiteering mechanism is being transferred to the CCI from NAA (National Anti-Profiteering Authority). Legal provision has been defined under section 171 of CGST Act, and it prescribes the situation of profiteering. Those definitions will not change. It is just the institutional arrangement for determining whether there is profiteering or not, and now it will be done by the CCI as against the National Anti-Profiteering Authority.

Answering the question whether any date fixed for handing over anti profiteering arrangement to CCI, CBIC Chairman told that the current plan was is to transit in December, but dates have not been firmed up. There are some complaints regarding higher increase in the prices of some products post-July 18, when the GST for pre-packaged and pre-labelled food and dairy products. came into effect. For example, GST at the rate of 5 per cent was imposed on some items, but the retail prices went up much higher. These have not been reported to us as yet. Price revision is a commercial decision, but if companies say price hike is because of GST and it is more than rate hike, the issue needs to be examined. We need to examine the prices after mode of charging GST changed on July 18, and even there is an increase, it may not be that high.