Tata Play ordered to pay INR 450 crore for alleged GST related profiteering

The National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) has ordered Tata Play Ltd. to deposit INR 450 crores with interest in designated consumer welfare funds for allegedly profiteering after the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), showed an official order. 

NAA said in an order posted on its website that the period of alleged profiteering from subscribers was from 1 July 2017 to 31 January 2019. The decision came on the basis of an application filed by a consumer based in Karnataka which led to an investigation by the Director General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP). 

The investigation looked into allegation that in the direct to home service by the company, commensurate benefit of input tax credit that became available to the company after GST rollout, was not passed on to the consumer as mandated under the Central GST Act. 

The company informed NAA that post February 2019, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India orders have specified the pricing regulations based on network carriage fees and channel package price which were being followed by them. The order quoted Tata Play’s submission that there is no impact of taxes on its package pricing to the consumer.  

An email sent to the Tata group seeking comments for the story on Thursday remained unanswered at the time of publishing. 

The order said that half of the amount of alleged amount of profiteering has to be deposited in central consumer welfare fund and the rest in state consumer welfare funds.

The Complete Order can be accessed at - https://www.naa.gov.in/docs/1661939860Tata%20Play.pdf