gurugram the first day of goods and services tax gst evoked mixed reactions from businessmen and buyers as malls and retail stores across the city witnessed reduced footfall while buyers were both curious and excited retailers were still figuring out and getting comfortable with the new tax regimeat the ambience mall which houses many international brands mall officials reported around 20 less footfall however a few attributed that to the schools opening up after summer vacationthe crowd is less but that is mostly because of the schools opening again as per customers a few are curious about the new tax regime and we are informing them accordingly the breakup is also mentioned on the receipts said a store manager at the pantaloons outletaccording to the retailers the rates for apparel vary as per the category while the tax may be at 6 for one clothing item it might be 28 on another depending upon the price slab and other criteria even at the mall mile on mg road retailers confirmed less than average footfall during this season most retailers toi spoke to however said the consumers will not see any change unless the current stock is exhaustedour systems have been updated as per the requirement and it automatically generates a bill with the breakup of the goods and services tax many of the customers have been inquiring about the impact since morning said one of the managers working with lifestyle a departmental store at mg metropolis mallmeanwhile the buyers were trying to figure out the impact of the new tax regime ravi bhatia who was shopping with his family at the ambience mall said we bought these toys and they gave us a manual bill which does not mention gst when we asked about gst the saleman said the mrp includes everything his friend shyam singh who was accompanying him said the public as well the businesses were not yet ready for gstishan kaushik who works with an indian company said he had to shell out around 15 more for car servicing i gave my car for servicing this morning and from 13 the taxes have gone up to around 18 which is crazy our meal outside however costed us a little less comparatively said kaushikeating out is going to be little cheaper by around 1 according to the food and restaurant owners many restaurants also ran online awareness campaign informing consumers of the reduced ratesearlier the consumers would pay 13125 value added tax vat and 6 service tax on food items and nonalcoholic drinks now that have been replaced by 18 which is a good news for the consumers said rahul singh head haryana chapter of the national restaurants association of india meanwhile the local markets wore a deserted look according to the kanhiya lal pahwa president of traders vyapar mandal gurgaons sadar bazaar was almost empty the buyers and shopkeepers are both lost and confused about the new tax regime the market is bound to take an initial