Hindustan Unilever, Nestle give Rs 1.75 bn to govt's consumer welfare fund

The government’s consumer welfare fund has earned Rs 1.75 billion so far on account of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Nestlé giving voluntary deposits as a compensatory measure for not passing on to customers the benefits of cuts in the goods and services tax (GST).

These are provisional deposits, and the anti-profiteering watchdog will arrive at the final amount after examining each case.

The deposit has been made on account of the rate reductions approved by the GST Council in its November 10 meeting last year in Guwahati, where the rates for 178 items were cut from 28 per cent to 18 per