In breach of Rule 6 of GST in its procedure, the GST council has gone over 5 months without a meeting, and the conduct of Business Regulations, which specifies quarterly meetings.
On December 21, 2024, the last 55th GST Council meeting was held, which was conducted in Jaisalmer, specifying that the forthcoming meeting will be held on March 31, 2025. This marks the fourth time the gap between meetings has surpassed 5 months, with the longest being over eight months between October 2023 and June 2024, due to the Lok Sabha elections.
Tax rate revisions, compliance simplification for taxpayers, and widespread improvement of the tax ecosystem are the reform measures due to which the delay occurred.
As no specific explanation was there for the current delay, Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal cited anticipating a meeting in April. “Difficult to say why it could not take place. Then India-Pakistan tension happened, which could be well understood,” Balagopal also said that, Any further delay will impact the future course of reform action.
While recommending that the Fitment and Law Committees meet regularly, their decisions cannot be approved and implemented without meetings of the Council. He suggested using video conferencing for shorter meetings to alleviate hardships for taxpayers.
It is important to have regular meetings to address the significant economic priorities, such as executing section 11A, citing ambiguities, considering GST rate lessening in insurance, and widening the tax base.
