The central government has clarified that it has no plans to impose Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions exceeding ₹2,000. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha that the GST Council has not made any recommendation to levy GST on such transactions.
The clarification comes amid concerns raised by traders in Karnataka, who reportedly received GST demand notices based on UPI transaction data. Responding to a question in Parliament, the minister emphasized that GST rates and exemptions are decided solely based on recommendations made by the GST Council.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi also weighed in on the issue, accusing the Karnataka government of misleading the public. He said the notices to small traders were issued by the state’s commercial tax officials, not the central government. Refuting Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s claims that the state had no role in issuing the notices, Joshi called the statement absurd.
He further questioned why such GST notices were being sent only in Karnataka if they were indeed a central directive, emphasizing that GST comprises two components — CGST (central) and SGST (state). In this case, Joshi said, the notices were issued under the purview of SGST.
