A doubt that bothers many consumers is whether the GST claim raised by a shopkeeper is genuine or not as there is currently no avenue to check the veracity of such claims.

Tech solution The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Hyderabad) has come out with a technology solution to the problem. The institute has developed an app, tGST, for the Commercial Taxes Department of Telangana.

“Take a photo of the bill and uploaded it to the app. It will let you know whether the GST paid by you is going to the government or not,” Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Commercial Taxes and Excise) of Government of Telangana, told BusinessLine .

“Though the app is available in app stores, it is a beta version. We will launch the final version soon,” he said.

Talking on the sidelines of a national conference organised by Assocham on the GST rollout here on Thursday, he said the dealers in certain categories were not supposed to collect GST but were reportedly collecting it. This exclusive business-to-consumer app would help clear the doubts of the consumers.

He said the State recorded collections of ₹2,800 crore a month, including IGST (Integrated GST) component.

Pros and cons While some issues came in the way of the implementation of GST, he said the uniform tax removed several bottlenecks such as border checkposts, saving a lot of time and improving the efficiencies of logistics.

Among the concerns, he said, the GST had adversely affected the small and medium sector and export businesses. Efforts are on to address these concerns, he added.

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