GST Council Reduces Delivery Service Rate to 5% – Clarification from CBIC

During its 57th meeting, the GST Council approved several measures to simplify trade, one of which was cutting the GST on delivery services provided through e‑commerce platforms to 5%. The CBIC reiterated that the change is a reduction from the earlier 18% levy and not a new tax. The board also highlighted other Council decisions, such as speeding up refund processing by shortening the claim acceptance window from 15 days to 10 days, and expanding Input Tax Credit (ITC) to health and life insurance premiums for employees, telecom towers and pipelines outside factories, and stock written‑off due to free samples or expiry, provided the disposal is legally mandatory.