The Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into force in the country over the weekend and however much you might hate the idea of it, there’s no escaping its reality.
The silver lining for GST detractors though could be a few products and services that have become cheaper post its implementation. And since it’s been a few days that the unified tax has been in place, we at least have more clarity now as to how we can make the most of it.
Automobiles
Homegrown carmaker Maruti Suzuki announced a drop in ex-showroom prices of its vehicles by upto 3 percent with benefits crossing Rs 23,000 on certain models.
Premium manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz have cut prices by a whopping Rs 2 lakh on the likes of the E-Class while Jaguar Land Rover is offering discounts of over Rs 5 lakh.
Apple products
Silicon Valley giant Apple has also slashed the prices of its products in India heavily. While the maximum retail prices of the iPad, the Apple Watch, and the Mac line of computers have all been cut (with a few exceptions), the iPhones have also witnessed significant reduction of prices.
| iPhone SE | Old MRP | New MRP |
| 32GB | ₹ 27,200 | ₹ 26,000 |
| 128GB | ₹ 37,200 | ₹ 35,000 |
| iPhone 6S | ||
| 32GB | ₹ 50,000 | ₹ 46,900 |
| 128GB | ₹ 60,000 | ₹ 55,900 |
| iPhone 6S Plus | ||
| 32GB | ₹ 60,000 | ₹ 56,100 |
| 128GB | ₹ 70,000 | ₹ 65,000 |
| iPhone 7 | ||
| 32GB | ₹ 60,000 | ₹ 56,200 |
| 128GB | ₹ 70,000 | ₹ 65,200 |
| 256GB | ₹ 80,000 | ₹ 74,400 |
| iPhone 7 Plus | ||
| 32GB | ₹ 72,000 | ₹ 67,300 |
| 128GB | ₹ 82,000 | ₹ 76,200 |
| 256GB | ₹ 92,000 | ₹ 85,400 |
Air travel
It’s good news for the majority of air travellers with economy class becoming cheaper as the tax rate is now fixed at 5 percent against the previous 6.
Business class travellers though will have to bear the brunt with the tax going up from nine to 12 percent.
Eating out
Eating out has seen food bills drop down by 20-25 percent since GST came into effect. The prices have dropped due to food and beverages coming under the 18 percent tax slab under the GST regime, according to the Times of India.
Earlier, each item was levied a value added tax (VAT) of 20 percent. This was coupled with a service tax of 6 percent. The service charges and 2 percent cess were also added.
Cab rides
In case you didn’t notice, Ola sent out a notification to all its App users saying, “The government has introduced GST, a forward-looking tax reform from July 1 onwards. It replaces the existing service tax and reduces the overall tax paid on your Ola rides.”
It goes without saying that Uber had to follow suit and reduced its prices as well.
What do you feel about the GST? Let us know in the comments section below.
