The organisations representing the ‘persons with disabilities’ have written a letter to the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, expressing their disagreement with the central government’s plan to impose the Goods and Services Tax on the aids used by them. Until now, the aids used by the PWD have been exempted from the armpit of all kind of taxes such as the VAT, excise and customs. Once the GST comes into force, we will have to pay nearly twelve per cent tax on the Braille Paper; around eighteen per cent tax on the Braille typewriters; over twelve per cent tax on the Braille watches; and at least five per cent tax on the wheelchairs, crutches and artificial limbs.
The imposition of the GST on the aforesaid materials runs contrary to the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, which stipulates the state authorities should provide the necessary aids to the PWD either at free of cost or at an affordable rate. Anyway, the request seeking the reconsideration of the proposal has been also sent to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the Central Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Thawar Chand Gehlot. On the wake of this development, it seems that the Finance Minister might reconsider its proposal to impose GST on the aids used by the PWD. But, it is unlikely that the government will exempt all the aforementioned materials from the armpit of the new tax regime. As we are nearing towards the important day in terms of the GST’s future,July 1, the tensions around it are growing accordingly.
Vignesh
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