The monthly household expenditure for Ch. Sneha, a resident of Srikakulam district, is ₹2,000. However, this month she had to cut down on the list of items bought at the retail store as the total bill amount exceeded ₹2,400.
“Earlier, the monthly essential commodities never crossed ₹2,000 but this time I have to reduce the quantity of certain products such as butter packets, ghee, dry fruits and sugar syrups and place them back on the shelves after checking the final bill amount, as the tax component has gone up on these products,” says Ms. Sneha.
Price-conscious buyers who entered the supermarkets to refill the shelves with kitchen staples find it difficult to figure out item-wise price variation.
While several outlets are trying their best to get familiarised with the GST structure, consumers heading to the retail outlets ended up staring at the bill for a longer time to figure out which items turned out to be costlier.
Comparison not easy
“Since the tax levied on each item varies, it is difficult to identify the expensive stuff by merely looking at the bill copy without having the last month’s invoice that features similar products,” says S.P. Thakur, a naval employee.
Those who stick to the strict monthly budget say it takes time for them to assess how much they have to set aside extra to meet their expenditure.
“This is primarily because certain essential commodities such as puffed rice and bread are tax exempted and some like cheese attract extra 6% tax (earlier 6%). Unless we get into a regular pattern of purchase, it’s hard to explain the actual difference and plan accordingly,” reasons B. Raju, a resident of MVP Colony.
With some of the retail stores offering cash back vouchers and special discounts on a range of products, not many are able to trace the variation between the earlier rates and the existing ones.
It’s business as usual
“Even in the daily transactions, we don’t find any big change and it’s business as usual across the branches. With respect to the impact on GST rollout, I think it takes a while to get the real picture in terms of business volume,” states K. Bhanu Prakash Reddy, store manger of Big Bazaar.
