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Government Plans To Simplify Forms To File Profiteering Complaints

The government plans to simplify the form consumers use to file profiteering complaints.

A worker holds his goods and services tax (GST) papers in his store at a wholesale market in the Old Delhi area of Delhi, India (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)  
A worker holds his goods and services tax (GST) papers in his store at a wholesale market in the Old Delhi area of Delhi, India (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)  

The government plans to simplify the form consumers use to file profiteering complaints against businesses making unjust profits under the Goods and Services Tax, a senior official told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.

In the existing form (AFAP-1), consumers require details of input tax credit, GST identification number of the company and the six-digit Harmonised System of Nomenclature code of a product. The Standing Committee set up under the anti-profiteering clause is working to simplify the requirements and the new form will be finalised in a few days, the official said.

The current form seeks far too many details that the common man would find difficult to fill, said Abhishek Jain, an indirect tax partner at EY India. “Simplifying the form would make it easier for customers to file profiteering complaints.”

The anti-profiteering mechanism under the GST is a three-stage process: state-level Screening Committee for local complaints and a Standing Committee for national-level complaints; investigation by Directorate General of Safeguards; and the decision-making body — the National Anti-Profiteering Authority.