Last Updated on June 9, 2018 by Legalseva.net
Within a month, 32 Complainants got the relief on the same issue from different consumer courts across the Tricity, be it Chandigarh, Panchkula or Mohali.
The question is still pending before the consumer court whether charging VAT on discounted prices is an unfair trade practice or not? And does it comes under the ambit of deficiency of service?
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The case relates to Lifestyle International private ltd. Chandigarh, Kharar from where Mr. Kumar purchased a pair of socks on discounted rates which cost him Rs. 14.95 as a VAT. He went to Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mohali, regarding this where it was directed to the Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd. to pay Rs.14.95 with 6% interest from June 2017 till payment along with the compensation of Rs.2000 & litigation expenses of Rs.2000 to the complainant.
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As per counsels, in cases related to VAT where extra taxes are charged on the discounted price, there is no order that has been overturned or stay is given, so consumers are approaching Consumer Forum for relief.
The consumer manufacturing companies in their defense said that VAT is to be calculated on the selling price as per the market price. So, there is no unfair practice.
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Referring to the case of 2017, An appeal of Aero Club (Woodland) was heard by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission where it was ruled that if it is clearly mentioned on the products that the MRP is inclusive of all taxes then the extra tax like VAT, GST etc cannot be charged. In case, if these extra taxes are charged on the discounted price then it would lead to unfair trade practice.
By the way of Special Leave Petition (SLP), this was challenged in Supreme Court. Now, it is under the consideration of Apex Court.
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In our LegalSeva opinion when the MRP itself says maximum retail price and discount is shown on MRP, then levying VAT is cheating to customers since they always have this notion in mind MRP-discount= Price they have to pay. It is only at the billing counters when the consumer has to face embarrassment and out of public shame he doesn’t say a thing and peacefully pays whatever extra is being added in the name of VAT. But this shouldn’t be the case.
Neither the companies are stopping from charging VAT nor Consumer forums awarding decisions against this unfair trade practice. 32 orders clearly suffice this.
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The post is written by Priya Singh from ICFAI University, Dehradun 2nd Year.
Whatever be the situation, Consumer Lawyers in Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Kharar Derabassi Zirakpur are clearly at advantage from this situation. If you too are facing a similar issue, kindly write to us at [email protected] or dial 99888-17966 for quick help.
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