GST rollout: Britannia and Tata Tea have stopped supplies, says Kerala govt

Distributors asking for higher commission on their products as post GST, the cost increased

Britannia Industries and Tata Tea have stopped supplies to distributors in Kerala, who are seeking protection of their margins after the goods and services tax (GST) was imposed. Industry sources said these companies had sales of Rs 500 crore and Rs 200 crore in Kerala, respectively, every month.

Shyam Prasad Menon, president of the Federation of South India Distributors’ Association, confirmed the development. Emails to Britannia and Tata Tea went unanswered.

With the GST, compliance costs for distributors of consumer goods have gone up, squeezing their 3-5 per cent profit margins to 1-1.5 per cent. Around 81 per cent of