New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- In a viral post on the social media platform Reddit, a user recently claimed that he and his friend had to pay the same membership fee even after the GST applicable rate was slashed from 18% to 5%.

"My friend and I joined the same gym a few days apart and saw something fishy. On 19 September, he was billed Rs.5,084.75 + 18% GST Rs.915.25 = Rs.6,000. But on 23 Sept, I was billed Rs.5,714.29 + 5% GST Rs.285.71 = Rs.6,000," the Redditor said in the post.

"Basically, the moment GST on fitness services dropped from 18% to 5%, the gym raised the base fee so the total stayed the same, meaning instead of passing on the tax benefit, they pocketed the Rs.630 difference which looks like profiteering and under Section 171 of ...