The State Government of Maharashtra has announced a ban on numerous plastic products with immediate effect. Please click here to view the notification.
RAI has submitted a representation to the State Government of Maharashtra to clarify applicability of the ban on certain types of plastic products. In its representation, RAI has contended that plastic used for transportation, storage and handling of good should be exempted. Click here to view the representation.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved subsidizing MDR charges on debit card/BHIM UPI/AePS transactions of value less than Rs.2000 with effect from 1 January 2018, to aid adoption of digital modes of payments by merchants. This shows the commitment of the government to Digital India initiative and comes as a huge relief for the retailers across the country as effectively they will pay zero MDR on accepting digital payments below Rs 2000. Read the official notification here...
The Panvel Municipal Corporation has imposed a complete ban on sale of Plastic Carry Bags in retail stores on 2nd October 2017. The same ban has been implemented with an immediate effect.
Please click here to view the communication.
All RAI members are urged to switch over to alternate means to ensure compliance of the communication in the region.
RAI delegation had a fruitful meeting with Shri Yogendra Garg, Additional Director General (ADG),CBEC to represent retailer’s concerns and recommendations on GST.
Please click here to view the proceedings of the meeting along with the responses received from the Government.
RAI has been working with the State Government of Haryana in regard to formulation of a state-level retail trade policy to facilitate 'Ease of Doing Business' in the state.
After a series of meeting and deliberations between RAI delegation and the government officials, the final draft of the policy has been prepared and uploaded on the Haryana Governments website.
Please click here to view the policy. The policy can also be view on https://haryanaindustries.gov.in/draft-retail-policy-2017-haryana
You are requested to submit you feedbacks/suggestions in regard to the policy on akshay@rai.net.in by 03.09.2017.
RAI is pleased to inform you that the Government has lowered the GST rate on job work of all textile related items including garments to 5 per cent from 18 per cent.
RAI had represented to Government and requested a reduction in the GST rate on Job work of garments. In its representation, RAI has contended that GST rate on stitching cloth/tailoring/Job work of garments should be brought down to 5 percentage from 18 percentage similar to textile yarns (other than man-made and filament) and textile fabrics as stitching cloth/tailoring is a ‘subsequent process’ in the manufacture of textile products.
Please click here to view the submsission
RAI has been approached by various members to represent the complexity of B2C invoices under the GST regime. RAI has submitted multiple representations to highlight the GST related issue w.r.t. B2C invoice.
As per GST invoice rules, all dealers are required to issue invoice as per a specified format. In every invoice, it is mandatory to mention GST rates and HS code for each article sold and provide tax details. Complying with the requirements of the format are not only increasing the size of the invoice but also be confusing as they have a lot of information which is not relevant to the end customer as they would not be claiming input credit of GST. The issues need urgent resolution as consumers feel that they are paying too much of taxes and are confused with long bills and multiple lines of items and GST rates in the bill.
Being the voice of the industry and in keeping the interest of the consumers in mind, RAI has submitted a representation calling the Government’s attention to the issue. Please click here to view the recent representation submitted to Finance Minister, GoI.
Since the implementation of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) in the country, a lot of information has been circulated about it on social media. As the apex body of retailers, Retailers Association of India (RAI) would like to clarify that not all the content that is being circulated is trustworthy or factual.
A case in point is a forward being circulated that urges people to ask for separate bill for every Rs1000 to save money on GST. As per the forward, the slabs are as follows: 0% GST up to Rs1000; 2.5% GST on spends of Rs 1000 to Rs 15000; 6% on Rs 1500 to Rs2500 and 18% on bill of Rs 2500 to Rs 4,500.
Believing the above information as true, consumers across the country are demanding that retailers split the bill amount in multiple bills for evading tax, resulting in long queues, wastage of paper and unnecessary hassles at billing counters.
To stop the spread of misinformation, RAI would like to clarify that as per GST laws, the above slabs do not exist. The slabs given in GST are based on individual product prices and not on total bill amount. Therefore, getting separate bills at supermarkets and hypermarkets will not help save tax.
Prices of groceries at supermarkets are inclusive of taxes. Taxes shown on cash memo are not additional, but already included in the selling price. They are mentioned separately on the bill in compliance with the GST law.
Retailers Association of India (RAI) has tied up with Reliance JIO-GST for introducing a simple secure GST compliance solution for Implementation of GST by retailers. Reliance JIO is one of the GST Suvidha Providers (GSP) and Jio-GST solution will assist retailers to maintain records, file GST returns and to comply with the provisions of GST law.
“GST is a giant step forward for India to create uniformity of taxes across the country. We know that its implementation is a complex process and all of us, in the industry, have to play our part for successful implementation of the Act. We, at RAI, believe that this welcome change has to be supported with an easy technological access for compliance. We are sure that JioGST will be able to support millions of retailers across the country to ensure hassle free compliance,†said Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, RAI.
The Jio-GST is a mobile-first GST solution available for Rs. 1999 only, which is aimed at helping small retailers across the country to have a smooth transition to GST.
Features of JioGST -
1. JioGST Software Solution for 1 year
2. Unlimited Voice + 24 GB data for 1 year
3. A JioFi device
4. Empanelled Professionals, Billing App and much more To get GST Ready, retailers can register here
To get JioGST Starter Kit, they can dial 1800 200 2002 (press 2)
To know more about JioGST click here
The State Government of Gujarat has issued a notification exempting retail establishments in the state from weekly closure as mandated by the Gujarat Shops and Establishments Act, provided they comply with the statutory requirements laid down by the government in the notification.
The notification is valid for a period of two years. The Government has also allowed retailers to keep their stores open till 11 pm. Please click here to view the notification.
Various members had approached RAI to represent the issue to the State Government. Please click here to view the representation.