Retail majors Hindustan Unilever and Nestle voluntarily deposited Rs 175 crore to the government's consumer welfare fund as a compensatory measure for not complying with the anti-profiteering norm of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Business Standard reported.

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The anti-profiteering body told BS that the deposits made by the companies are provisional measures and the final amount will be jotted down after they examine the cases.

The national anti-profiteering authority was set up under GST to protect consumers’ interest and to ensure that companies pass the tax cut benefits to them.

Hindustan Unilever deposited Rs 160 crore, while Nestle deposited Rs 15 crore. The former believes that it has deposited the profiteered amount, while Nestle is still in the process of depositing the second tranche of the benefits.

The companies, according to the authorities, had failed to comply with the GST council's decision of slashing GST on 178 items to 18 percent.