‘No plan for GST on UPI transactions exceeding ₹2,000', says MoS Finance in Rajya Sabha. What we know…
Speaking in the Upper House on July 22, while answering questions the minister clarified speculations that the Finance Ministry is plans to impose goods and service tax (GST) on unified payments interface or UPI transactions that exceed ₹ 2,000 in value.
'There is no recommendation of levying GST on UPI transactions of over 2000 from the GST Council,' Pankaj Chaudhary stated on July 22, according to an Economic Times report. He added that GST rates and exemptions are decided on the basis of recommendations of the GST Council, which is a Constitutional body comprising of members from both the Centre and States and Union Territories (UTs), it added.
Further, Chaudhary added that the Centre does not foresee revenue shortfall at this stage, and aims to achieve Budget estimate targets for 2025-26. The fiscal deficit for 2025-26 is estimated to be around ₹ 15.69 lakh crore, at 4.4 per cent of GDP.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, he said the government supports state finances through Finance Commission grants, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, and Special Assistance as loans to states for capital expenditure.
Total-transport-systems-share-price-nse-bse-s0004808" data-vars-anchor-text="Total" data-vars-link-type="Auto" data-vars-page-type="story">'Total resources being transferred to the states, including the devolution of state's share in taxes, grants/loans and releases under Centrally Sponsored Schemes, etc, in Budget Estimates for 2025-26 is about ₹ 25.01 lakh crore,' he added.
In reply to another question, Chaudhary said, as per inputs received from Public Sector Banks (PSBs), as on March 31, 2025, 96 per cent staff are in position against their business requirement.
'The small proportion of gap is attributable to attrition on account of superannuation and other usual factors, including unplanned exits. During the last 5 years (FY 2020-25), banks have recruited 1,48,687 employees, and for FY 2025-26, recruitment of 48,570 employees is underway,' he added.
Replying to another question, the minister said that insurers are required to decide on the request for cashless authorisation within 1 hour of receipt of such request and grant final authorisation within 3 hours of the receipt of discharge authorisation request from the hospital as per IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business dated May 29, 2024.
'However, the data related to the average time taken by insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs) for the claim settlement is not maintained by IRDAI. IRDAI has informed that during FY 2023-24, 58.39 per cent of total claims were settled through cashless mode in terms of count and 66.16 per cent in terms of amount,' he said.
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