The government has extended the deadline for sale of pre-GST goods with stickers of revised rates by three months to 31 December, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday.
The decision came after several companies and retailers body CAIT highlighted that they are still left with huge unsold stocks of pre-GST goods and need more time to clear that.
After implementing GST from 1 July, the government had allowed use of stickers with revised rates, alongside the printed MRP for pre-packaged items to reflect changes in selling price for three months till 30 September.
The unsold items had an MRP which included all taxes of pre-GST era but with the implementation of new regime, some of the final retail prices have undergone change due to increase or decrease in tax incidence.
On packaged commodities, industry can display revised MRP due to GST implementation using sticker/ stamping/online printing up to 31 December 2017Ram Vilas Paswan, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister
A senior consumer affairs ministry official said the deadline has been extended following demand from several companies like Wipro, HPL and other non-food companies.
Since food items have expiry date for consumption, there were not many representations from such companies, the official added.
Traders body CAIT today claimed that goods worth Rs 6 lakh crore may become redundant if the last date for using MRP-labelled old stock is not extended beyond 30 September.
"The government hereby further permits the manufacturers or packers or importers of pre-packaged commodities to declare the changed retail price (MRP) on the unsold stock manufactured/packed/imported prior to 1 July 2017 after inclusion of the increased amount of tax due to GST, if any, in addition to the existing retail price (MRP), up to 31 December 2017," said a government communication.
Businesses had held discussions with the consumer affairs ministry regarding unsold stocks, which took up the matter with the revenue department.
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