Anti-profiteering

adjective (attributive); also used as a noun (the practice/regime of preventing profiteering)

/ˌæntɪ-ˈprɒfɪtɪərɪŋ/

Legal mandate under Section 171 of CGST Act requiring businesses to pass on benefits of GST rate reductions or ITC gains to consumers

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The anti-profiteering provisions of the GST regime were conceived as a consumer-welfare safeguard, ensuring that statutory rate cuts translated into lower retail prices rather than swelling corporate margins; yet their case-by-case adjudication exposed the difficulty of legislating fairness without a transparent, formula-based methodology.

Synonyms

Price pass-through mandate (descriptive term used in economic analysis)no exact synonym exists in Indian tax law

Antonyms

Price gouging (the practice anti-profiteering aims to prevent)profiteering (excessive profit-making that this provision targets)

🌱 Word Family

profiteer (n/v), profiteering (n/v pres.p), anti-profiteering (adj/n), profit (n/v), profiteered (v past)

🔡 Root

Greek anti- = against + Latin profectus = advancement → profit; compound coined in regulatory law

📜 Etymology

Anti- (Greek anti, against) + profiteering (making excessive profits, from profit — Latin profectus, advancement). The concept draws from wartime price control laws; in the GST context, it was borrowed from Malaysia and Australia's GST implementation models.

🧠 Memory Hook

"ANTI- (against) + PROFIT + -EER (one who does)" — a rule set against those who would PROFIT-EER, i.e. milk a crisis or a tax cut for excess gain. Picture a war-time shopkeeper jacking up bread prices, and a stamp coming down: "ANTI-PROFITEERING."

💰 Indian Economy 📖 Seen in: Goods and Services Tax (GST) — India's...

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