GST effect: Maruti Suzuki reduces vehicle prices

According to the company, after the implementation of GST, the ex-showroom prices of its models have come down by up to three per cent. / AFP PHOTO /

NEW DELHI: Automobile major Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday said that it has passed on the entire benefit of GST (Goods and Services Tax) rates on vehicles to its customers. According to the company, after the implementation of GST, the ex-showroom prices of its models have come down by up to three per cent. "The rate of reduction varies across locations depending on the VAT (value added tax) rates applicable prior to GST," the company said in a statement. However, the company pointed out that owing to withdrawal of tax concessions on mild hybrid vehicles, the prices of "Smart Hybrid Ciaz Diesel" and "Smart Hybrid Ertiga Diesel" have increased. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), India's biggest tax reform since Independence, rolled out past midnight Friday in the precincts of the hallowed Central Hall of Parliament to usher in a new indirect tax regime in an event that sought to evoke memories of the famous 'Tryst with Destiny' night the country got freedom in 1947. A minute after the stroke of midnight, President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed the button to launch the new indirect tax regime on a digital screen with "GST" emblazoned on it in a golden hue. Conceived on the principle of 'one nation, one tax, one market', the tax that subsumes 17 central and state levies was launched in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, MPs, chief ministers, state finance ministers, officials of the Centre and states.