Week After GST 2.0: Less Than 30% Of Medicine, Packaged Food Buyers See Benefits, Says Survey

The benefits of the overhaul in the goods and services tax may be evading consumers for now. A nationwide survey done by Local Circles revealed that price cuts because of the new GST rates may have not trickled down to the consumers of various categories of products.

Less than 30% of the survey respondents benefitted from the GST overhaul in the first week, when its comes to the purchase of packaged food items and medicines.

The survey, which received over 78,000 responses from over 27,000 consumers located across 332 districts of India, highlighted that only one in 10 consumers confirmed receiving full benefit of GST rate reduction on packaged food products in the first week, whereas two in 10 agree to have received partial benefits.

Similarly, in the case of medicines, only one out of 10 consumers agreed to receiving full benefits of the rate cut, and two out of 10 received partial benefits in the first week, as per the survey.

In the electrical appliances, white goods and consumer electronics category, three out of 10 consumers confirmed to have received full perks of the rate reduction within the first week, and another three in 10 received only partial benefits, Local Circles said.

The survey further stated that many retailers have kept the pre-GST pricing on the packaging because of old stock on the shelves, though, some have put up notices stating that the changed prices will be adjusted at the counter.

The only sector where the benefits reached most of the consumers' pockets within week one is automobile, as seven in 10 vehicle buyers confirmed receiving full benefits of the rate cuts; while 2 out of 10 received partial benefits.