Chennai: The huge crowd at the lanes of the commercial spaces in the city would certainly make people guess a good sales on the first Sunday of the Aadi month. But the economics speaks otherwise. Textile manufacturers and traders admit a reduction of ten per cent in the regular Aadi sales on Sunday, due to the influence of the implementation of Goods and Services tax.
It may be noted that five per cent tax is levied on the dress materials and sarees, which becomes 12 per cent to the readymade clothes. Despite various discounts by the textile shops in the Aadi month, the sales have been below the expected, say experts from the textile industry.
C. Saravanan, who owns a garment shop at Ranganathan Street of T Nagar said, “We had even accentuated the discount per cent this year. However, the business was dull on Sunday, which is not a regular scene at the commercial establishment.”
Explaining a similar situation, K.M.A. Mohammed from the Kairasi Silks in Pondy bazaar said, “The crowd witnessed in the T Nagar today (Sunday) is very much lesser than the usual Sunday crowd in Aadi season. I am unsure if it is due to the GST.” As far as the procedure of GST is concerned, Mohammed said that they had not yet received a circular on the tax slabs.
“It is quite confusing. There is a lack of awareness on the aspect. We ask our auditor about the slabs,” he added.
The excessive slabs of Goods and Services tax largely affects the customers who are choice less.
A customer at a textile shop in Egmore said, “My daughter’s wedding is in six months. We are shopping early to utilize the Aadi offers. Without it, the prices are on the roof.” Meanwhile, a few shops have changed their marketing strategies to pull the crowd. A prominent shop in T Nagar, which had never announced Aadi month discounts as a policy, has rolled in 10 per cent discount for the first time, due to GST.
Another strategy is to not charge the GST to the customers. T Bhavani, who owns a garment shop at OMR and Sittalapakkam said, “We are not collecting the GST from our customers. However, we are planning to take off the regular discount of 10-15 per cent, in order to survive in the industry.”
