GST Council meet: Time not right to bring petroleum products under GST ambit
Food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato will be taxed now; concessional rate on Covid drugs to continue, rates on cancer drugs cut
Petroleum products won’t be covered under GST anytime soon. Addressing the media after the 45th GST Council meeting on Friday in Lucknow finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the council felt it isn’t time to bring petroleum products under GST regime.
Another big decision is that food ordered through apps such as Swiggy and Zomato will get expensive. These e-commerce operators will have to pay GST on restaurant service supplied through them. The tax will be charged at point of delivery.
Relief for Covid drugs
Keeping in mind the Covid situation in the country, the council decided to extend the concessional GST rates on drugs used in COVID treatment till December 31. It also cut the rates on medicines used in cancer treatment from 12% to 5%.
This meeting was the first in-person meeting since 2019.
The rate on biodiesel for blending with diesel will be reduced from 12% to 5%. This could reduce the price of diesel which has touched almost Rs 90/litre across states, leading to higher freight cost and thus inflation.
The council has exempted national permit fee charged by states for operation of goods carriage from GST. Also, the inverted duty structure on footwear and textiles fwill be corrected rom January1, 2022, Sitharaman said.