A dealer of Patanjali Ayurveda has been held by the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) for not passing on the benefits of duty reduction to his customers. The dealer has been asked to deposit Rs 6.06 lakh along with an interest of 18 per cent .
He has been accused of increasing the base price of a product called Beauty Cream 50 GM by Patanjali. The GST rate on such products were lowered to 18 percent from 28 percent with effect from November 16, 2017 but the Delhi-based Satya Enterprises increased the base price of the product after the tax was lowered to keep the MRP same as before.
The respondent argued that the MRPs were fixed by the manufacturer and could not reduce it on his own. He further argued that he had been charging 5 per cent commission since before GST came to force and that he did not profiteer. The NAA argued that he was bound to reduce the MRPs on products sold by him post November 15, 2017. Investigations showed that he had increased the base prices of 109 products, forcing his customers to pay more.
