From the initial day of the subsequent financial year- Fiscal Year 2025-26 (FY26) – no new anti-profiteering case shall be registered. The anti-profiteering complaints will be heard by the Principal Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) instead of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
GST council suggested to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) notifies the amendment specifies the finish of the anti-profiteering procedure with the start of the 9th year of GST.
On the Goods and Services Tax Council, advise the Central Government, to appoint 1st day of April 2025 as the date from which the authority directed to in the quoted section does not accept any request for the examination as to whether the ITC claimed via any enrolled individual or decrease in the tax rate consequence in a proportional lessening in the cost of the goods or services or both supplied by that registered person, a CBICs notification mentioned while adding that it will be applicable from the date (September 30, 2024) of its publication in the Official Gazette.
Tax experts cited that it establishes a clear cutoff date of 1st April 2025, post that the GST Appellate Tribunal will no longer accept new requests for the investigation into profiteering cases.
The due date specifies a transition stage for businesses, the government, and consumers since for the first time the start of GST market forces would decide costs, free from the oversight of anti-profiteering laws.
Towards this transformation, the objective seems to be GST compliance facilitation via decreasing the window for the investigation of anti-profiteering. It should be learned that the current complaints and the scrutiny will be carried on as of the cutoff date till they concluded.
From 1st April 2025, the businesses would required to have the autonomy to designate the cost of the goods and services without the constraints of anti-profiteering norms, which are anticipated to upgrade industries. This deregulation will create a more flexible pricing landscape, enabling companies to better adapt their pricing strategies to meet market demands.
Another CBIC notification cited that- on the recommendations of the Goods and Services Tax Council, the central Government authorizes the Principal Bench of the Appellate Tribunal, to analyze whether the ITC claimed via any registered individual or the tax rate lessening has a consequence in a proportionate decrease in the cost of the goods or services or both supplied via that registered individual, as per the CBIC notification. From October 1 2024 the same will come into force.
Tax experts described this as a significant improvement in the legal system aimed at ensuring adherence to anti-profiteering regulations under the GST framework, noting that by enabling the Principal Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal to handle anti-profiteering cases, the government reestablishes oversight on profiteering issues that were previously assigned to the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
The CCI even after issuing a few orders in this interim duration suffers challenges because of the absence of specialized expertise in the tax regulations, directing to the limiting in precisely addressing the profiteering concerns. The same action draws a big expertise of tax law back into fold, assuring accurate and informed decisions on the profiteering matters.
