The 53rd GST Council Meeting held on Saturday recommended services provided by the Indian Railways such as the sale of platform tickets, facility of retiring rooms, waiting rooms, cloakroom services, battery operated car services are exempt from GST. Further, intra-railway supplies are also being exempt.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that hostels, which are for students outside of educational institutions, are also exempt from GST. The Council has also recommended exempting accommodation services having a value of supply up to Rs 20,000 per person per month. “These services are supplied for a minimum continuous period of 90 days…,” she added.
The GST Council also recommended waiving interest and penalties for demand notices that have been issued under Section 73 of the GST Act, including cases not involving fraud, suppression or misstatements, the minister said.
The GST Council meeting also recommended a uniform GST rate of 12 per cent on all milk cans whether they be made of steel, iron, or aluminium. Milk cans will be governed by a standard measurement and not by the material they are made of, in order to avoid ambiguity.
They are called milk cans but wherever they are used, that will be the rate applicable so that no disputes arise out of it, she added. The council also recommended a uniform GST rate of 12 per cent on all carton boxes and cases of both corrugated and non-corrugated paper or paper board. This will in particular help the apple growers of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
A uniform 12 per cent GST has also been recommended on all types of water sprinklers, including fire water sprinklers, she added. The Council also recommended to prescribe 12% GST on all solar cookers whether it has a single or dual energy source. Sitharaman added that these decisions will benefit traders, MSMEs and taxpayers.