Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devender Yadav said that the reality of Delhi Chief Minister Smt. Rekha Gupta’s announcement of refunding GST returns of Rs. 1600 crore to the traders of Delhi before Diwali can be gauged from the track record and the decisions taken by the Delhi Government in the last 7 months as so far the Government has done nothing other than making vague announcements. He asked whether the Chief Minister was really making any plans to simplify the complex process of licensing traders, tackle the administrative hurdles in setting up and running a business, and the economic uncertainty of traders on account of global and local economic fluctuations. “We demand that the GST refund, which has been pending since 2019, should be returned by the government to the traders at the earliest, along with interest,” he said.
Yadav demands immediate refund of ₹1600 crore GST dues since 2019
Devender Yadav said that the BJP Government in Delhi should take a decision in the interest of the traders as well as the people of Delhi, who are suffering from inflation and unemployment, to abolish the 5-18% GST on packed goods of daily use like food etc. He said that GST was being levied at 5 per cent on packed food items like atta, sugar, tea, 12 per cent on packed butter and curd, 18 per cent on pen, soap and toothpaste, 6-9 per cent on registers, notebooks, account books and pencil sharpeners. He demanded that these items be exempted from GST.
Calls for GST exemption on essential
Devender Yadav said that it was the same BJP which had opposed the implementation of GST by the Congress-led UPA Government across the country but after coming to power, BJP increased the GST on daily use packed food items, which has adversely affected the poor and middle class people. He said that on the issues related to improvement in GST collection and GST returns, appeals have been filed in different forums, on which the government should take immediate action and provide relief. Devender Yadav said that just as the Aam Aadmi Party had ignored the interests of the traders of Delhi, the BJP was also not providing any relief to the traders to provide relief in doing business. He said that the traders are suffering due to the wrong implementation of GST and by not getting GST refunds on time.
