The Union Cabinet is likely to approve setting up of the anti-profiteering authority under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Cabinet may also approve creation of the post of chairman and four technical members of the authority on Wednesday, officials said. To keep a tab on businesses that have not passed on to consumers the benefit of lower tax rates under the GST regime, the GST Council had approved setting up of a 5-member National Anti—Profiteering Authority. The authority will have a sunset date of two years from the date on which the chairman assumes charge. The chairman and the four members of the authority have to be less than 62 years.
The chairman, who would be a secretary level officer, shall be paid a monthly salary of Rs 2.25 lakh plus other allowances and benefits of similar ranking officers. If a retired officer is selected as chairman, he will be paid a monthly salary of Rs 2.25 lakh reduced by the amount of pension. The technical members will be paid a monthly salary of over Rs 2.05 lakh plus allowances and benefits as applicable to an additional secretary rank officer. The officers who are or have been commissioner of state tax or central tax or have held equivalent post under the excise, Customs or VAT laws will be eligible for appointment as technical members in the authority.
The additional director general in the Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) will act as secretary to the anti-profiteering authority. The chairman and members of the authority will have a term of two years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, and shall be eligible for reappointment. As per the structure of the anti-profiteering mechanism in the GST regime, complaints of local nature will be first sent to the state-level 'screening committee' while those of national level will be marked for the ‘Standing Committee’. If the complaints have merit, the respective committees would refer the cases for further investigation to the Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS).