Will act against traders inflating prices post GST: Kerala govt

Many traders are making profits by imposing GST on pre-GST price, the state Finance Minister said

Latest news : The Kerala government on Thursday said stern action will be taken against those hiking prices of commodities following the launch of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government viewed the present increase in prices of commodities very seriously.

The government has already established a mechanism to file complaints on increase of prices of commodities, he said in a press release.

He added that Kerala has already raised the issue before the Centre.

Earlier, state Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac urged the central government to take steps to check tendency in trade and business to make undue profits following the launch of the GST.

Kerala wants the Centre to set up an anti-profiteering authority at the national level, he said.

In a letter to his counterpart at the Centre, Arun Jaitley, Isaac claimed that though prices of many commodities had come down due to GST, the consumer was not getting its benefit.

Many traders were making profits by imposing the GST on the pre-GST price, he said, adding hotels and restaurants were doing this the most.

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