Saturday, the first day of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which was ushered in at the stroke of midnight, turned out to be yet another ordinary day. There was no visible excitement or ennui reported from anywhere in the State. Shops and business establishments functioned as usual. But some of the shops had hoisted black flags in protest against the new tax regime. The association leader, Vellayan, had given a call to all members of the trading community to hoist black flags as a mark of protest against the GST.
But business was normal in all shops, super markets, consumer durable goods show rooms. “We are having our usual quota of customers. Today being the first day of the month and a Saturday, many homemakers are having their monthly shopping for household articles. last night we had to work overtime to revise the prices of goods following the introduction of GST,” said the general manager of a leading super market at Porur, a Chennai suburb. He said though prices of most commodities have been hiked following the GST, nobody has made any complaints.
The price tag of tiffin and meals sold in hotels remained the same. “It may take another couple of days for revision of prices. I am sure that the prices of idli, dosa and filter coffee would see a sharp rise,” said the manager of Pongal Hotel. He said he continued selling idli at the rate of Rs20 per plate. What is interesting to note is whether the Amma Restaurants, a game changer launched by former CM late Jayalalithaa would be able to sell idli at the rate of Rs1.
S Kalyanaraman, former executive, Asian Development Bank, said the hike in the prices in foods served in restaurants is not going to make any difference at all. “Even otherwise they hike the prices periodically. Who is going to protest over the price hike in these executive class eateriesIJ” asked Kalyanaraman.
G Narayanaswamy, the octogenarian chartered accountant , said there was no clarity and stability with regard to the policies of the GST. “I read that the tax on fertilisers was reduced after 8 pm on Friday. There are such discrepancies all over and this has to be addressed by the authorities,” said Narayanaswamy.
He said the kirana shops are in for trouble. “How many of the kirana shop keepers would be able to upload their sales details on a daily basisIJ These are all one man armies and it is impossible for the shopkeeper to take time off for uploading the sales details on a daily basis,” he said.
But Narayanaswamy was hopeful that in the long run, the Good and Simple Tax system would yield good results. “Please do not expect any good news in the short run,” he said.
Narayanaswamy’s observations about small retail shops were substantiated by Diwan Moihideen and Dhanasekharan, two small-time shop owners at Poonamallee. “How do you expect us to employ office manager and cashier to keep track of the daily businessIJ We are yet to be told what has to be done once the GST comes into being. Till date nobody from the government or the local administration had come to us to brief us about the procedures,” said Moihideen.
Dhanasekharan said it would take him a couple of weeks to work out the pricing of the goods being sold from his shop. “let me see how much I have to pay for the commodities. Then only Ill be able to tell something about the GST,” he said.
Besides the more than 800 firecrackers factories in Sivakasi, the matchbox industries, employing more than four lakh workers have downed the shutters indefinitely since Saturday morning. More than 1200 cinema theatres in the State too would close down from Monday as there are uncertainties and lack of clarity with respect to the tax structure. “We don’t know how much the government is planning to impose as tax above and over the GST. This has put us in real trouble,” said Abhirami Ramanathan, president, Tamil Nadu Film Chamber of Commerce. The multiplexes in Chennai have not opened for booking for the weekend because of the uncertainty.
The highlight of the day was a press meet addressed by former finance minister P Chidambaram at Chennai on Saturday who described the entire GST ushered in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as wrong. “This is not the way how it should be done. There are so many discrepancies and this is going to derail the economy and put hardship on the people,” said the former finance minister. But a senior Congress leader said that the last word about GST could be said only after two years. “You have to give time before making any comments about a massive transition like this,” said the leader on condition of anonymity for obvious reasons.