GST Council 1st Meeting to 54th Meeting Updates with PDF

What is the Meeting of the GST Council?

Goods and Services Tax (GST) was urged and provided a go-ahead in 1999 during a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his economic advisory panel. Mr Vajpayee set up a committee directed by the finance minister of West Bengal, Asim Dasgupta to develop the GST model.

Upon the same subject Finance Minister P Chidambaram in February 2006 carried on working. It was then lastly executed on 1st July 2017 and is upon the grounds of the indirect tax through the state and centre like VAT, excise duty, etc, the government of India indeed made a GST official to administrative the guidelines of the GST.

GST Council Meeting Requirement

As mentioned formerly, the GST official is the controlling body of the GST rules execution in India. They work as their duty to make needed decisions and amendments in the GST. The GST official is empowered to find out the tax rate subjected to the GST framework, the tax exemption rules, the last date of furnishing the GST forms, tax concerned laws, and the last date as well as the particular privileges for some states in India. The GST official is responsible to make sure that a constant rate of GST must be liable to apply to goods and services all over India.

Latest GST Council Meeting Decision below, Order Wise

Find all the latest updates on GST council meetings held after the implementation of goods and services tax. The recent 54th GST council meeting has finally made some decisions for rates and new amendments.

54th GST Council Meeting Updates

53rd GST Council Meeting Updates

52nd GST Council Meeting Updates

51st GST Council Meeting Updates

50th GST Council Meeting Updates

The 50th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting took place on July 11th, 2023, with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leading the discussions. The meeting covered a range of important tax matters. These included discussions on GST appellate tribunals, potential tax reductions on Apple cartoons, the inclusion of GSTN under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, clarification on the taxation of food and beverages, and the proposal to impose more tax on multi-utility vehicles.

49th GST Council Meeting Updates

The 49th GST Council meeting was chaired by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, on February 18, 2023. The meeting was also attended by Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, the Union Minister of State for Finance, along with finance ministers from states and union territories (with legislatures).

The Council has endorsed the suggestions put forth by the GoM to enhance the collection of revenue. The proposals involved eliminating the capacity-based levy, allowing the export of such goods only against LUT with a refund of accumulated ITC, and imposing a compensation cess. Also, ministers have recommended new GST rates on Raab and pencil sharpeners.

48th GST Council Meeting Updates

A final report and decisions have been approved by GST 48th council meeting. During the 48th GST council meeting, e-commerce registration, offences, and tribunal setup were discussed. A video conference meeting with state ministers was scheduled for 17th December 2022.

47th GST Council Meeting Updates

As per a recent update, the 47th meeting of the GST council ended with the decision on the GST slab rate on the hotel and hospital rooms. The council members have changed and shuffled products and services GST slab rates, Also, the rates will be applicable starting from 18th July 2022 as decided by the GoM in the GST council meeting.

46th GST Council Meeting Updates

45th GST Council Meeting Updates

44th GST Council Meeting Updates

S. No.	Description	Present GST Rate	GST Rate recommended by 44th GST Council
Medicines
1.	Tocilizumab	5%	Nil
2.	Amphotericin B	5%	Nil
3.	Anti-Coagulants like Heparin	12%	5%
4.	Remdesivir	12%	5%
5.	Any other drug recommended by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Dept. of Pharma (DoP) for Covid treatment	Applicable Rate	5%
Oxygen, Oxygen generation equipment and related medical devices
1.	Medical Grade Oxygen	12%	5%
2.	Oxygen Concentrator/ Generator, including personal imports thereof	12%	5%
3.	Ventilators	12%	5%
4.	Ventilator masks / canula / helmet	12%	5%
5.	BiPAP Machine	12%	5%
6.	High flow nasal canula (HFNC) device	12%	5%
Testing Kits and Machines
1.	Covid Testing Kits	12%	5%
2.	Specified Inflammatory Diagnostic Kits, namely D-Dimer, IL-6, Ferritin and LDH	12%	5%
Other Covid-19 related relief material
1.	Pulse Oximeters, incl personal imports thereof	12%	5%
2.	Hand Sanitizer	18%	5%
3.	Temperature check equipment	18%	5%
4.	Gas/Electric/other furnaces for crematorium, including their installation, etc.	18%	5%
5.	Ambulances	28%	12%

43rd GST Council Meeting Updates

• “GST Exemption to some COVID-19 supplies till 31st August 2021”
• “GoM to be formed to check if further reductions to be given to new items, GoM to submit reports before 8th June”
• “Rationalization of Late fee for Small Taxpayers to be applicable to future liabilities”
• “Annual Return filing to continue to be optional for Small Taxpayers”
  • “GST Amnesty Scheme for all Small Taxpayers (MSME). The GST Council is likely to announce an amnesty scheme on late fee in GST return filing to provide a huge relief to small taxpayers- Due to Covid-19 pandemic:-
    Pending GSTR-3B returns from July-2017 to April 2021.
    Amnesty scheme could be from 1st June 2021 till 31st August 2021″| Read more

42nd GST Council Meeting Updates

• “GSTR1 and GSTR3B which is to be filed quarterly by the taxpayer whose turnover is less than Rs 5 crores from 1st January 2021, although challan is the medium by which payment is to be made.”
• “The assessee whose average turnover of higher than Rs. 5 Crores, HSN code needs to be written at a 6-digit level while HSN code to be mentioned at a 4-digit level for those whose average turnover is less than Rs. 5 Crores executing B2B supplies”
• “From 1st January 2021, a refund will be given to those whose bank account validate with PAN and Aadhar. However, the application for refund can be signed via OTP of Aadar verification.”
• “The state Punjab is asking to borrow from the centre they told that collection of tax is enhancing with monthly compensation of Rs 7000 crore but from the source, there is no requirement for the compensation shortfall of more than Rs 60,000 crore.” | Read More

41st GST Council Meeting Updates

• “The states will get loans at similar rates if these states will burn with bond yields. Thus it is good to run the process so that all states will get the loan at the same rates.”
• “The government agrees that this is not the right time to discuss the tax rates”
• “The consideration of 0.5% in the borrowing limit is given by the government. beneath the FRBM Act as the second leg of Option 1. States can select to borrow more, as due to COVID-19 injury. The state will borrow less if the state will choose option1.”
• “The total compensation for GST for April – July 2020, will be paid is Rs 1.5 lakh crore, it is because there is a rare collection of GST in April and May. The requirement is around 3lakh crore for annual compensation of GST and collection for cess is Rs 65000 crore, creating a difference of Rs2.35 lakh crore.” | Read More

40th GST Council Meeting Updates

• The government also provided some relief for small taxpayers (with no liability) by removing the late fee for GSTR 3B filing. However, returns with liability will attract Rs. 500 as the maximum amount for the late fees
• or small taxpayers having turnover up to ₹ 5 crores, the rate of interest for filing the GST returns with delay for the month of Feb, Mar and April 2020, beyond July 6, 2020, has been reduced to 9%, which was 18% earlier
• Small taxpayers having turnover up to ₹ 5 crores will be not charged with any late fee or interest if thy successfully file the form GSTR-3B for the supplies of May, June, and July month, by September 2020 | Read More

39th GST Council Meeting Updates

In a recent 39th GST council meeting, there were major decisions taken:

• Know your supplier scheme comes into being.
• Aircraft MRO service GST rates down to 5%.
• GSTR -1, GSTR-2A & GSTR-3B filing extended till September 2020.
• GSTR-1 filing dates get changed like, Before 10th for turnover greater than Rs 1.5 cr and Before 13th for turnover lesser than Rs 1.5 cr. GSTR-2A reconciliation now fixed for 14th of every month.| Read More

38th GST Council Meeting Updates

• Deadline for filing GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C for FY 2017-18 is extended till 31 January 2020.
• ITC claimed on provisional basis in GSTR 3B decreased to 10% from 20% earlier.
• Deadline for filing GST Returns extended till 31 Dec 2019.
• Council rationalised GST rate to eliminate inverted tax structure.
• Late Fee abandoned on filing GSTR 1 by 10 January 2020. Non-filing after 10 Jan will lead to blocked E-way bill facility. | Read More

37th GST Council Meeting Updates

• The 37th GST council meeting has brought GST rate on multiple products and services
• Relaxed taxpayers from the filing of annual returns for MSMEs for FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19
• GSTR 9 filing for taxpayers having a turnover up to 2 crores made optionally
• Extended date to appeal of the appellate authority in the GST appellate

There are a lot of amendments and changes brought by the council. Check out complete details of 37th GST council meeting

36th GST Council Meeting Updates

• GST rates on all the electric vehicles are now 5 per cent down from 12 per cent applicable from 1st August 2019
• Electric vehicle chargers also reduced to 5 per cent from the earlier 18 per cent rate
• Electric buses having occupancy capacity of more than 12 people exempted from GST The rates are applicable from 1st August 2019

• GST form CMP 02 filing due date has been extended from 31.07.2019 to 30.09.2019
• GST Form CMP 08 self-assessed tax filing due dates for the time period of April 2019 to June 2019 now extended to 31st August

35th GST Council Meeting Updates

• New GST return system got approval by the GST Council.
• Fitment Committee will look forward to the curtailment of GST rate on electric vehicles in the next council meeting.
• The effective date to disallow e-way bill generation if GST Returns are Not Filed for more than 2 months, has been extended till 21st August 2019.
• The proposal regarding the introduction of e-invoicing got approval by the GST Council.
• GST Council green signals the setting of state & area based GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)
  • Now some states may have more than one GSTAT.
• The last date for filing GSTR 9, 9A & 9C has been extended to 31st August 2019 by the GST Council.
• Penalty on the non-payment of Profiteering charges
  • 20% penalty is leviable if the profiteered amount is not paid within 30 days of order.
  • Use of Aadhaar card for the authentication of registration.
• The extension of National Anti-profiteering Authority by 2 years has been approved by the GST Council. | Read More

34th GST Council Meeting Updates

• The council decides reduced down rate as 5 per cent on non-affordable and 1 per cent on affordable housing scheme applicable on under construction properties
• The old rate of 12 per cent on non-affordable and 8 per cent on affordable housing scheme can be chosen till 10th May 2019 in case the builder wants to claim ITC
• If the builder opts for the newer rate i.e. 5 per cent on non-affordable and 1 per cent on affordable housing scheme, then there will be no ITC provided | Read More

33rd GST Council Meeting Updates

• GST rate is cute from 12 per cent to 5 per cent on under construction properties. However, there will no input credit available on such transaction fro the builders.
• GST rate cut on an affordable housing scheme from 8 per cent to 1 per cent. Affordable housing is termed as property valuing less than 45 lakhs or carpet area of a house in the metro city up to 60 square metres (around 650 square feet) and in the non-metro i.e. 90 square metres (970 square feet).
• Properties valuing more than 45 lakhs will be levied with a 5 per cent GST rate at par with the under-construction properties tax rate.

Note: The said amendments will be applicable from 1 April 2019 (FY 2019-2020). Read More

32nd GST Council Meeting Highlights

• The recently held GST council meeting made some amendments in the GST rules:
• Kerala is permitted to levy calamity cess for 2 years to be used for rehabilitation of states.
  Revised GST rate of 6 per cent applicable to the composition scheme service provider having turnover up to 50 lakh per annum.
• Threshold limit increased from INR 20 lakh to INR 40 lakh leaving Kerala & Chhattisgarh on their own.
  Free billing & cost accounting software in development. Get More Details

All Decisions Taken in 31st GST Council Meeting Updates

In the latest 31st GST council meeting which was held on 22nd December, took some major decisions on rate reduction on multiple items coming under higher 28% slab rate. Some of the items like TVs and Monitor screen of up to 32 inches screen size, Pulleys, transmission shafts, and cranks, gearboxes etc., falling under HS Code 8483, Re-treaded or used pneumatic tires of rubber, Power banks having lithium ion batteries, Digital cameras and video camera recorders were reduced down to 18% GST rate from higher 28% GST.

Also, there were multiple items and services which were reduced from the higher GST rate to a lower rate. For a complete review of the latest 31st GST council meeting, go to our page.

30th GST Council Meeting Updates

In the last 30th GST council meeting, there were no GST rate changes applied to any of the items and also no decision was taken on the inclusion of petrol and diesel. However, a panel was formed to analyze and research over the GST collection for across the states. Also, there was a discussion on the 1% tax on commodities Pan India.

29th GST Council Meeting Updates

• 20 per cent cashback on online B2C transactions via BHIM, RuPay and UPI
• A ministerial panel consisting of 6 members for MSME issues

28th GST Council Meeting Final Decisions

28th GST council meeting was scheduled for 21st of July, 2018 from 11:00 AM at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi by Union Min Minister of Railways, Coal, Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Shri Piyush Goyal Ji. The meeting has decided on some changes in the tax rate slab and rate deductions on some items.

Exempt from GST	From 12 Percent to 5 Percent	From 18 Percent to 5 Percent	From 28 Percent to 18 Percent
Fortified milk	Fertiliser grade phosphoric acid	Footwear Below Rs. 1000	Mirrors, Lithium-ion batteries, Bamboo Flooring, Varnishes, Putty, Paint, wooden frames for painting, photographs,
Sanitary pads	Handloom Dari	–	Vacuum cleaners, Food grinders, juicer, mixers
The raw material used in brooms	–	–	Cosmetics, Perfumes, Scents
Commemorative coins circulated by the RBI or government.	–	–	Hand Dryers, Hair Curlers, Shavers, Hair Clippers, Toilet Spray
Saal leaves	–	–	Trailers, Concrete Mixer, Special Purpose Vehicle, Work Truck
Deities made of stone, marbles or wood	–	–	Washing Machines, Storage water heaters, Ice cream freezer, Electric smoothing irons, Watercooler, Refrigerators, TV (up to 68 cm i.e. 27 inches)

Recommended: Revised GST Slab Rates in India Finalized by the GST Council

Other Major Changes:

• Imported urea GST reduced to 5 per cent
• E-books GST reduced to 5 per cent
• Discussion based on the MSME sector and its hurdles in 29th GST council meeting
• Penalty waived off for taxpayer registration and date extended till 31st August
• GST rate for petrol and diesel Ethanol reduced to 5 per cent
• Option for composition scheme for those having a 10 per cent share in annual turnover offered as services
• Composition Scheme threshold limit increased (1 Crore to 1.5 Crore)
• Regular taxpayer turnover limit increased up to 5 crores for quarterly filing and 5 crores for monthly filing
• RCM provision nullified for 1 year
• The GST registration threshold limit is increased up to 20 lacs (earlier it was 10 lacs) for northeastern states.
• Textile industry to get refunds back from ITC paid

27th GST Council Meeting Updates

• B2B dealers get to see entire turnover and invoice details
• Only one return per month provision excluding composition scheme dealers and NIL transactions
• GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 filing to be continued
• GSTN entity to be divided in 50-50 percent ration between the centre and state government

26th GST Council Meeting Updates

• Reverse charge mechanism extended for 3 months
• 6 months extended for exporters in tax exemption. Exporters who are enjoying the benefits from export promotion scheme will continue to get exemptions on imports by October 1. By then an e-wallet scheme is expected to be launched to make the process easier
• Interstate movement of goods e-way bill generation from April 1
• And the implementation of the e-way bill in the Intrastate is scheduled to be from April 15 and to be divided into 4 states per rollout
• Filing returns date extended for 3 months and GoM to look for IT issues
• GST Council meeting is set to be commenced at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on March 10, 2018
• The main agenda of discussion: E Way Bill, Simple Return Filing, GSTR 3B Deadline Extension, Composition Scheme

25th Meeting of GST Council at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi

• Finance Minister India Arun Jaitley says “necessary to build some anti-evasion measures” He considered GST e-way bill one of them
• GSTR 3B return filing to be continued till further announcement
• Petrol under GST will be decided at the next GST Council meeting
• 40 handicrafts tax slab will be decided in the coming few days by the council
• The tax rate reduction on all the items and services will be applicable from 25th January 2018
• Composition dealers deposited lesser tax than expected as stated by Finance minister
• Arun Jaitley mentioned that 15 states to apply intrastate GST e-way bill on the same date i.e. on 1st February 2018
• Items re-considered under 18% slab rate from 28% tax rate
• Next meeting through video conferencing in 10 days
• No decisions on return filing simplifications today
• Uttarakhand FM cleared that 29 handicrafts items reduced to 0% GST
• Nandan Nilekani presents suggestions on GST return filings
• GST Council holds 35,000 crores for distribution among centre and states as an IGST collection dividend (Source: CNBC)

24th GST Council Meeting Updates

In the recent 24th GST council meeting, it was finally decided that the electronic waybill commonly known as e-way bill is now introduced and will be applicable from 1st February 2018 across the nation. However, the states can introduce any individual pattern of e-way bill in there own but it is mandatory to introduce the e-way bill in respective states by the given deadline.

23rd GST Council Meeting Updates

The 23rd GST council meeting has done a lot of changes in compliance and procedure related to composition scheme with tax rate change in slab rates under GST along with return filing procedure. View More

GST council decides to increase the threshold limit of composition scheme taxpayers which was earlier 1 crore to now 2 crores, means the composition scheme taxpayers are now under 1.5 crore threshold. Also, the service supply exemption is now 5 lakhs per annum. The tax rates for traders and manufactures is now 1 percent on taxable goods leaving restaurant under composition to normal. View More

The GST council meeting also slashed tax rates on 178 items coming under 28% slab rate which leaves on 50 items under the highest tax rate of 28%. It is speculated that the lowering of taxes may result in revenue loss of around 20,000 crores to the government. The taxpayers whose threshold limit comes at 1.5 or less would file GSTR 1 quarterly as decided by the council. View More

22nd Meeting Of GST Council

The latest 22nd GST council meeting decided that AC restaurant tax rate revised to 12% from 18%, and yarns, clips, pins would be in 5% slab. Also, it is revealed that the threshold limit for the composition scheme dealers has been increased from 75 lakh to 1 crore. SMEs earning up to Rs 1.5 crore annually will have to file quarterly returns. GST council next meeting will be held on 9th and 10th November 2017 in Guwahati.

On 6th October, 22nd GST council meeting held to revise compliance provisions for businesses by GST council, which is made up of state finance ministers, officials from both states and the Centre and is headed by the FM, Arun Jaitley. The discussion has taken place regarding structural changes in new Indirect tax regime on the basis of complaints and feedback from businesses. Two days ago, the PM also held a meeting with the FM and BJP chief Amit Shah and promised the taxpayers that technical glitches and GST issues would be fixed effectively.

So many key aspects have been discussed on GST related issues and the GST Council has promised to amend important points. Here are the Prominent Highlights Of The Meeting:

• The businesses with turnover up to Rs. 1.5 Crore are allowed to file quarterly returns
• The threshold limit for the composition scheme to Rs. 1 crore from Rs. 75 lakh in turnover has been done
• The reverse charge mechanism system has been suspended as the liability to pay tax resides with the buyer instead of the seller
• E-way bill has been postponed until 1st April 2018
• TCS and TDS applicability postponed until 31st March 2018
• GSTR 4 return filing for composition dealers have been extended until 15th November 2017 for July to September period
• The due date to register under composition scheme has been extended till 31st March 2018
• No need of GST number for Goods transporting agencies for extending transporting services
• No GST on advances received by SMEs
• No GST registration for interstate service providers up to 20 Lakh

21st Meeting Of GST Council

The 21st meeting was inaugurated in Hyderabad on 9th September 2017. The key changes in GST rates had come into effect for services provided by a local authority and the government authority, the rate reduced from 18% to 12%. For mid-sized cars, big cars and SUVs, the cess increased to 2%, 5%, and 7% respectively. The due dates for filing GSTR-1, GSTR-2, GSTR-3 had been extended to 10th October (for the businesses, turnover crossing Rs. 100 Crore the due date would be 3rd October 2017), 31st October, 10th October respectively. The extension of GSTR-3B placed to December 2017 and registration under composition scheme extended to 30th September.

17th, 18th, 19th And 20th Meeting Of GST Council

The seventeenth GST council meeting held on 18th June. In the meeting, officials extended the deadlines for return filing until September and ease the terrific anti-profiteering clause. The e-waybill rules were discussed and postponed for further. The council also modified rates of luxury hotels and lottery tickets run by state authority to be charged at 12% whereas the ticket by a private authority to be charged at 28% GST.

The 18th meeting held on 30th June 2017, just a day before the GST roll out. The GST rate on fertilizers was reduced from pre-decided 12% to 5% and the tax rate on exclusive parts of tractors was reduced to 18% from 28%.

The 19th meeting took place on 17th July 2017, the first meeting to be held after GST implementation and the council decided to raise the cess on cigarettes to 31% in a certain category.

The 20th meeting of GST Council took place on 5th August 2017. The meeting headed by the finance minister decided to kick start Anti profiteering mechanism, the final draft of E way bill presentation, job work decided to tax under 5% GST rate, government given work contract taxed at 12 % GST rate and GST rates for certain services were revised.

13th To 16th GST Council Meeting

In the thirteenth meeting held on 31st March, the rules on registration, return, payment, refund, debit, credit, and invoices got approval. Furthermore, the four rules were discussed on the topic of input tax credit rules, valuation rules, transitional provisions, and composition rules. In the 14th meeting held on 18th May, the GST rates on goods and GST compensation cess rate got approval.

The 15th meeting was held on 3rd June 2017. The major decision of GST roll out on 1 July was unanimously accepted and pending rules including returns and transition provisions approved by the GST Council. On 11th June 2017, the sixteenth meeting took place with a rate revision of 66 items out of 133 and ended with the finalization of accounting rules.

11th And 12th Meeting Of GST Council

At the meeting held on 4th March 2017, the council had finalized the important CGST and SGST bills. It was declared that hotels with a turnover below 50 lakh would pay the lowest tax of 5%.

In the twelfth meeting on 16th March 2017, many key decisions and approval had been taken place. The council had approved the state GST bill & union territory bill and the council fixed 15% cess rate for certain demerit items. In this meeting, the council had given the approval to form a committee to look into the meta permit issues and the five draft laws were sent to cabinet and parliament for acceptance.

6th To 10th Meeting Of GST Council

In the sixth meeting of GST Council which was held on 11 December, the council had discussed the model GST laws regarding CGST and SGST in detail. The council had pronounced till 99 sections out of 197 sections.

The seven meeting of GST Council was held on 22-23 December 2016. The draft model bills on State and centre GST legislation passed and dual control issue was discussed but remained inconclusive.

The eighth meeting was scheduled on 3-4 January 2017. States demanded to increase cess on more items to compensate for the revenue loss of 900 billion. Accordingly, GST council had decided that the cess would be levied on a list of items mentioned by GST council and at the end of five years of GST the cess would be added to GST rates to divide it between the Centre and the states.

In the ninth meeting held on 16th January 2017. The dual control issues had been resolved and the council decided that 90% of the assessees with turnover below or equal to 1.5 crores would be investigated by the state government and 10% by the central government. In case of assesses with the turnover of more than 1.5 Crore the Centre and the State would scrutinize in 50:50 ratio. Any IGST disputes would be in consideration of the Centre.

The tenth meeting took place on 18th February 2017. In which the compensation law was finally approved.

3rd, 4th And 5th Meeting Of GST Council

The third meeting was held on 17-18-19 October 2016. GST rates and slabs discussion were taken place but the decision could not be made. The fourth meeting of GST council was held on 3-4 November 2016. The four slab rates were decided; which includes 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Apart from this, the additional cess above 28% would also be discussed to levy on sin goods and luxury items. The fifth meeting was held on 2-3 December 2016 with no deferred conclusion.

1st & 2nd Meeting Of GST Council

The very first meeting of GST Council was placed on 22-23 September 2016 with the determination to roll out GST on 1 April 2017. The two-day meeting was accessed by 29 states and 2 union territories and headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The main focus of the meeting was to decide regulation under composition scheme and charge 1-2% tax which would be less than the GST rates from traders with a gross turnover of up to Rs. 50 lakh. Some of the issues were also discussed regarding the GST rates and threshold limit to pay taxes.

The second meeting of GST council is held on 30 September 2016. GST draft rules for registration, rules for payment, returns, invoice, refunds and total six issues had been finalized so far. The states were compensated for loss and a fixed growth rate 14% was decided and all the exempted entities under indirect tax were considered to pay tax in the new GST regime.

Major General Queries on GST Council Meeting