Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chairs the 53rd GST Council meeting, in New Delhi on June 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the 53rd GST council has taken a lot of decisions relating to trade facilitation and easing the compliance procedures for small businesses, MSMEs and other taxpayers.
Services by way of hostel accommodation provided to students outside educational institutions will be exempted from GST for services with a value of upto ₹20,000 per person per month, Ms. Sitharaman said.
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This will be subject to the condition that such services are provided for a minimum continuous period of 90 days. This will particularly help students coming from rural areas, and will be a big relief for all students across India.
The GST Council has clarified that all solar cookers will attract 12% GST, whether linked to single or dual energy sources. the finance minister said.
The Council has also decided to exempt services provided by the Indian Railways to the common man such as waiting room, cloak room and so on, from GST. All intra-railway services will also be exempted from GST, she added.
The Council has decided to mandate biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for all GST registrations across the country in a phased manner. This is based on the successful rollout of pilot projects in Gujarat and Puducherry and will make the registration process quick while curbing the fraudulent use of input tax credits through fake invoices.
