It’s raining discounts ahead of GST

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 24

With the GST all set to be implemented from the next month, it is the discount season everywhere. From apparels to electronic items, traders have started offering discounts from 20 to 80 per cent.

Automobile dealers are also offering discounts from Rs 20,000 to Rs 80,000 on cars.  All of them are trying to exhaust old stock ahead of the new tax regime. Surinder Singh Baijee, owner of Surindra Radios that sells Samsung products in Sector 22, said they did not want to keep much of stock because the remaining stock will attract the GST and the margins would vary then. He said they had been offering discounts from 20 to 80 per cent  depending upon the items. An LED TV costing Rs 1 lakh  is available for Rs 50,000. A  majority of shops selling major apparel brands and electronic items have put up  banners of heavy discounts. Major companies are offering a buy-two-get-two scheme on most items. 

Similarly, big footwear companies are also offering up to 50 per cent discount. Arvinder Pal Singh, owner of Pinky Electronics in Sector 22, said they had been offering heavy discounts as they want to exhaust the old stock. The discounts are available from Rs 12 ,000 to Rs 50,000  depending upon the items. Likewise, several cloth showrooms have announced discounts ahead of the GST regime. Arvind Jain, general secretary of the All-India  Federation of Cloth Retailers Associations, Sector 22, said a majority of branded stores were in a hurry to clear  their  stock  by offering heavy discounts.   

Automobile dealers are also offering heavy discounts.   Barinder Singh  Saluja, owner of the Saluja Ford at  Industrial Area,  says they are offering     cash discounts from Rs 10,000 to  Rs 35,000   on various variants  of Ford, besides  freebies such as free insurance cover, foot mats and other accessories. Many customers are showing interests in these offers, he added.