RAI is working with various States Governments in regard to issuance of notifications permitting retailers in the state to operate 365 days a year.

The update on the recent developments in regard to the subject matter is shown below in a tabular format. Click the links to view the notification of respective states.

RAI is working with the State Governments of West Bengal in regard to renewal of the 365 store opening permission in the State. RAI has also submitted a representation to the Government of Karnataka in regard to issuance of the notification allowing retailers to operate 365 days a year.

Furthermore, RAI has started actively engaging and working closely with various State Governments for the adoption of The Model Shops and Establishment (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services) Act 2016. The Government of Maharashtra recently amended the Maharashtra Shops & Establishments Act 1948 in line with the Model Bill.

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 GST council has recommended reduction in GST rate on tailoring from 18% to 5%. RAI had earlier submitted a representation to the Government to reconsider the GST rate on tailoring. Please click here to view RAI representation.

After a series of meetings with the GST council, our request to lower the rate of GST on tailoring has finally been considered. RAI believes that this is a great move by the Government and will benefit tens of thousands of people who are in the tailoring business across the country.

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.