The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has not been able to dispose of a single anti-profiteering matter in the three months since it took over the responsibility under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) mechanism. According to an official source, the absence of a quorum is affecting work at the CCI, which needs at least three members to be present for meetings. However, as of now, the CCI has only two members, with one member serving as the chairperson.
Before the CCI took over, the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) rule prescribed a minimum of three members of the Authority (previously known as the National Anti-Profiteering Authority or NAA) to constitute a quorum at its meetings. However, NAA ceased to exist on December 1, 2022, and it was decided that all profiteering-related matters would be examined by the CCI.
Section 171 of the CGST Act requires that any reduction in the rate of tax on any supply of goods or services, or the benefit of input tax credit, must be passed on to the recipient by way of a commensurate reduction in prices. In this regard, complaints can be filed with the NAA. Now that the task is with the CCI, there is no clarity on how many cases of anti-profiteering were pending as of December 1, 2022, or how many complaints have been registered between December 1, 2022, and till date.
Experts had warned that the transfer of all pending cases from the NAA to the CCI and forming a special bench for adjudication might take some time before things ease out. Additionally, the fundamental issue of what would constitute “commensurate reduction in price” and various methods employed by companies like increasing grammage and the practice of zeroing would continue to remain disputed before various high courts.
It remains to be seen how the CCI will address these challenges and streamline the anti-profiteering mechanism under the GST.
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