GST: Government asks all departments to ensure no shortage of consumer items

NEW DELHI: Three days into the goods and services tax regime, the government has asked all departments to take responsibility for implementing GST in their sectors, and ensure that there is no shortage of products and the benefits are shared with consumers.

Cabinet secretary PK Sinha on Monday reviewed implementation of the new indirect tax regime with secretaries and senior officials of various ministries and departments, including textiles, food and consumer affairs, food processing, railways, MSME, rural development, tourism, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, and financial services. The review was focused on consumer impact of GST that rolled out on July 1.

Sinha asked every secretary to take up the responsibility of their own stakeholders, trade and industry and with state officers as far as implementation of GST is concerned.

The government has also asked all departments to ensure that there is no shortage of products and consumer items to keep a check on prices.

Special emphasis was laid on keeping prices of essential commodities under check. Each ministry has to provide all the relevant information, including GST rates, on their respective websites.

Sinha asked department concerned to ensure that retailers, dealers/shopkeepers should display a ready price list under GST of items sold by them.