TEETHING problems are characteristic of most things new. The more complex the mechanism being introduced, the more the hiccups. Not so with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that came into force on Wednesday. Described as œefficient, effective, transparent and business-friendly, it proved to be near trouble-free, given the volume of transactions nationwide that must have taken place. Non-compliance ” there were some, but nothing to choke the complaints channel that was set up by the Customs Department. As of the evening of day one, only seven investigation papers were opened. On the whole, prices remained the same in leading hypermarkets and popular fast-food chains. One discount hypermarket had even announced that it would maintain old prices, even before GST was implemented. In suburbia, the neighbourhood mini-market seems unfazed by the new tax regime.
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