Skip to main content

Government looking at mid 2016 rollout of GST

The government on Thursday indicated that it was reworking the goods and services tax ( GST) rollout deadline to October 1, 2016, and might advance the winter session of Parliament to achieve this objective.
A day after the government dropped plans to call an extended monsoon session of Parliament to pass the GST Constitution amendment, NITI Aayog ViceChairman Arvind Panagariya told abusiness news channel that he was still hopeful of the GST rollout by middle of the financial year of 2016- 17, that is by October 1, if not the proposed deadline of April 1, 2016.
On whether the April deadline can still be achieved, Panagariya said: “ In politics you can never say anything is over. Things can change, turn around. I would not rule out that as a possibility,” Panagariya said. He, however, added: “ On the other hand, if it delays… it’s okay. It is a process. It started 10 years ago. If not in April, may be six months later it can be rolled out,” he said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister MVenkaiah Naidu also doled out hope that the winter session of Parliament could be advanced to immediately after the Bihar polls to pass the key tax reform. The minister said he was disappointed at the “ negative politics” of the Congress and that the government couldn’t call the special session. “ Still there is scope. Once the Bihar elections are over, we can make one more effort. We have the winter session. It can be advanced. We can still meet the deadline,” Naidu said.
The October 1, 2016 deadline has been on the government radar ever since it became clear that the Congress will not allow the GST Constitution amendment to be passed in the monsoon session.
At least half the states need to ratify a Constitution amendment after it is passed by Parliament. A mid- 2016 deadline will the government at least until the Budget session, that concludes in May, to ensure passage of other GST related Bills both by Parliament as well as state assemblies.
Business Standard, New Delhi, 11th Sept. 2015

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RBI deputy governor cautions fintech platform lenders on privacy concerns during loan recovery

  India's digital lending infrastructure has made the loan sanctioning system online. Yet, loan recovery still needs a “feet on the street” approach, Swaminathan J, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at a media event on Tuesday, September 2, according to news agency ANI.According to the ANI report, the deputy governor flagged that fintech operators in the digital lending segment are giving out loans to customers with poor credit profiles and later using aggressive recovery tactics.“While loan sanctioning and disbursement have become increasingly digital, effective collection and recovery still require a 'feet on the street' and empathetic approach. Many fintech platforms operate on a business model that involves extending small-value loans to customers often with poor credit profiles,” Swaminathan J said.   Fintech platforms' business models The central bank deputy governor highlighted that many fintech platforms' business models involve providing sm

Credit card spending growth declines on RBI gaze, stress build-up

  Credit card spends have further slowed down to 16.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY25), following the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of unsecured lending norms and rising delinquencies, and increased stress in the portfolio.Typically, during the festival season (September–December), credit card spends peak as several credit card-issuing banks offer discounts and cashbacks on e-commerce and other platforms. This is a reversal of trend in the past three financial years stretching to FY21 due to RBI’s restrictions.In the previous financial year (FY24), credit card spends rose by 27.8 per cent, but were low compared to FY23 which surged by 47.5 per cent. In FY22, the spending increased 54.1 per cent, according to data compiled by Macquarie Research.ICICI Bank recorded 4.4 per cent gross credit losses in its FY24 credit card portfolio as against 3.2 per cent year-on-year. SBI Cards’ credit losses in the segment stood at 7.4 per cent in FY24 and 6.2 per cent in FY23, the rep

India can't rely on wealthy to drive growth: Ex-RBI Dy Guv Viral Acharya

  India can’t rely on wealthy individuals to drive growth and expect the overall economy to improve, Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.Acharya, who is the C V Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern), said after the Covid-19 pandemic, rural consumption and investments have weakened.We can’t be pumping our growth through the rich and expect that the economy as a whole will do better,” he said while speaking at an event organised by Elara Capital here.f there has to be a trickle-down, it should have actually happened by now,” Acharya said, adding that when the rich keep getting wealthier and wealthier, they have a savings problem.   “The bank account keeps getting bigger, hence they look for financial assets to invest in. India is closed, so our money can't go outside India that easily. So, it has to chase the limited financial assets in the country and