ET NEWS

New Delhi: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has asked its field officials across the country to collect information from dealers and retailers on brand-wise prices of goods such as food, toiletries, stationeries, consumer durables and medicines before and after September 22. The exercise is to check whether they are passing on the benefits of the cut in goods and services tax that came into effect Monday (September 22).They need to collect details such as brand names, size or weight of the products and copies of receipt with maximum retail price and tax breakup before and after the new GST rates took effect. While fast-moving consumer goods and medicines are given time till December for relabelling, the receipts must reflect the new GST rates. The deadline for submitting this information is September 28. The field officials have to send the details to the designated email assigned by each regional office.The officials will also monitor popular ecommerce sites and portals, including Zepto, Instamart, Blinkit, Flipkart and Amazon. "While the big companies and brands have already assured that they will pass on the GST benefits, this exercise will ensure that the benefit is reaching to end customers and is not lost between the factory and the retail shop," a senior official told ET. "While the government is showing trust by not administering strict anti-profiteering measures, we are told to ensure the benefits are immediately and fully passed on to the final consumer," the official added.In a letter dated September 9, the CBIC had asked field officials to give a report on the 20th day of each month on about 54 commodities, including toiletries, consumer durable items, medicine, toys and stationery items among others. This price tracking will continue for at least six months.Experts say the GST rate rationalisation is a direct and meaningful boost for every Indian family, will increase savings and spending power and strengthen household budgets and fuel the consumption story of India. "Taking the example of a person earning ₹50,000 monthly, the price cuts on daily essentials (say spending of ₹25,000 of which there is a rate cut on spending worth ₹15,000) from food to personal care to medical bills are expected to help save approximately ₹1,275 a month," said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY India.

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Monday said the government would stick to its 4.4 per cent fiscal deficit target and restrict market borrowing at the estimated Rs 6.82 lakh crore in the second half of the current fiscal year. The government had announced borrowing Rs 8 lakh crore through dated securities during the April-September period of 2025-26 to fund the revenue gap. "We are confident of maintaining fiscal deficit and the second half market borrowing will be unchanged," he said at Network18 Reforms Reloaded Summit here. The Union government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India is expected to announce a borrowing calender for the second half (October-March) during this week. Fiscal deficit -- the gap between the government's total revenue and total expenditure -- is estimated to be 4.4 per cent of GDP for FY26 as compared to 4.8 per cent of the GDP estimated for the current financial year. To fund fiscal deficit, the government resorts to market borrowings. Out of gross market borrowing of Rs 14.82 lakh crore estimated for 2025-26, Rs 8 lakh crore, or 54 per cent, is planned to be borrowed in the first half (H1) through issuance of dated securities, including Rs 10,000 crore of Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs). In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit is pegged at Rs 15,68,936 crore for the financial year 2025-26. To finance the fiscal deficit, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at Rs 11.54 lakh crore. The balance financing is expected to come from small savings and other sources. Nageswaran further said India's FY26 GDP growth will tend towards the upper end of 6.3-6.8 per cent range in FY26, following the GST 2.0 reforms that came effect from Monday. The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament in January had projected real economic growth of 6.3-6.8 per cent for FY26. "The GST 2.0 is a very significant landmark reform. I am very confident that it will provide a very significant boost to domestic demand. Coming on top to the indirect taxes are the concessions and relief announced as part of the Union Budget. Taking a multiplier effect, these will quite definitely boost the GDP numbers," he said. The total impact of the multiplier effect due to direct tax relief (income tax cuts) and indirect tax relief (GST rate cuts) on the economy will be more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore, though some other uncertainties may dilute the effect, he added.

I am something of an airline points obsessive, or worse. I lurk on blogs and some more dodgy corners of the Internet to learn the latest strategies and promotions. I know the stakes are low, but it’s fun — even the outrage, the latest of which was ignited among the Delta flying community when the airline announced it was using AI to set prices.Its mistake was using the term “dynamic pricing, ” which people interpret as personalized pricing, like charging people more depending on why they’re flying. Delta is not doing that (yet), at least not with AI. But it is coming, not only for airlines but also for many consumer businesses. And we will all hate it — but we should all prepare for it.“Dynamic pricing,” like consumption taxes or market-rate-rent, is something only an economist can love. Dynamic pricing usually means a price that changes depending on when you buy — say, when Wendy’s wanted to charge less for burgers outside of peak lunch hour. The plan caused such an uproar that it was abandoned. But it would have been better for customers, who could have saved money by eating lunch later (or earlier, if they were hungry).Dynamic pricing is not the same as personalized pricing, which is based on someone’s personal characteristics, such as how much they can pay or how much they value the good or service. People hate dynamic pricing, but they tend to hate personalized pricing even more.Neither dynamic nor personal pricing is new. In some ways, they represent a return to a more traditional way of pricing, when people haggled in markets. Prices then often depended on the time of day, or a customer’s bargaining skills, or even the mood of the seller. In this era of mass consumption, however, something about this practice feels wrong and makes people angry — even in the economically savvy points community.Dynamic pricing powered by technology became more noticeable with ride-sharing apps that charge higher prices when and where there is more demand. But it long predates Uber — movie theater tickets are cheaper during the day. Airlines also practiced dynamic pricing before the AI revolution, charging different prices for the same flight depending on when people buy their ticket, how full the plane is, the day they fly, and so on.Airlines face a difficult problem setting their prices. Earning a profit requires them to fill planes — despite no-shows and weather delays. They serve customers with wildly different pricing sensitivities and travel needs. The market is also very competitive, with many people searching competitors’ fares (sometimes using AI!) to find the best price.It is not surprising airlines are using new AI tools to make their prices even more dynamic — these complex problems are what AI is made for. And for fliers with more flexibility, it could mean cheaper air fares. And to be honest, personalized pricing already exists: People can pay more for an upgrade in class, a better seat, a checked bag or a meal. In all these cases, the airline is charging a price based on the customer’s ability to pay or comfort preference.124047946Dynamic and personal pricing is one reason that flying has become cheaper and more accessible over the years: Leisure travelers generally pay far less than business fliers. The difference now is that the algorithm will get better at setting personalized prices. It’s all but inevitable, in fact, that AI will be used to set personalized prices for pretty much everything sold online. If the data is there, sellers will want to use it.Quite aside from its impact on consumers (see above: They’ll hate it), this new world has broader implications for the economy and society. How will it affect measures of inflation? Will more price-sensitive consumers get lower prices and a different inflation rate? What about data — will there be laws or norms about what companies can use? If someone spends months researching their dream vacation, bookmarking sites and messaging friends and family, and then finally decides to buy — will the seller know how excited they are, and jack up the price? What if their dishwasher breaks, and they’re desperate to buy? Will we all need to adjust the privacy settings on our browsers?In a world powered by enormous amounts of data and the technology to make sense of it, more dynamic and personalized pricing is the future, whether we like it or not. When we buy online, maybe the prices we pay will be unique to us. It may be harder for retailers to pull off differentiated pricing in actual brick-and-mortar stores. So maybe in-person shopping is due for a comeback — though it’s unlikely in the travel industry, not least because we addicts need the web to feed our habit.107935480