GST Bill

Live: Let GST promises do not go the way of your promises of two years, BSP tells govt.

Three enabling laws — two by the Parliament and one by the State Legislatures — would have to be passed, says the Finance Minister.

The stage is set for the roll-out of a uniform goods and services tax (GST) regime in the Rajya Sabha today. Here are the proceedings in Parliament for the day.

Latest updates:

5 pm: Singular most important economic reform since 1991, says nominated member Narendra Jadhav.

Lists benefits: Simplification of indirect taxes regime, elimination of geographical fragmnetation creating one market, transparency and self-policing helping avoid black money, GDP goes up by 1.5 to 2 percentage points, facilitate tax collection.

It would be naive to believe that GST is a panacea to all our economic ills, he says. Prices of healthcare and clothing will go up at least in the short run. Nevertheless it's a giant leap, says Jadhav.

4.44 pm: C.M. Ramesh of the TDP speaks on the debate now.

4.43 pm: This bill says if there is Constitutional difficulty, the President may modify the Constitution. This is against Art. 368, which lays down how Constitution can be amended. Constitution can be amended only through a special majority of both houses of parliament, says Misra. He concludes his speech asking the government that the assurances should not go the way "as your promises went in the past two years".

4.40 pm: As 75% votes in GST council are required for a decision, can an aggreieved State easily get 75% support on an issue, asks Misra ading that since Centre has 33% votes, it alone can veto any decision.

Misra puts forward ceratin demands: The GST bill should be brought as a financial bill, not as money bill; vice-chairman of the council should be of party that is not in power in the Centre

As some States are mentioned for special concessions and some States may be left out, like Jharkhand n Chhattisgarh, which are very backward, he says.

4.30 p.m.: Satish Chandra Misra of the BSP begins speaking. "We need to see if this will affect federal structure and how to overcome it."

4.23 p.m.: A.U. Singh Deo of the BJD speaks now. "Odisha is a mineral rich state. We want the green tax to be removed for states that are rich in minerals."

4.16 p.m.: "We are making a major departure through GST. All bills connected to gst should be brought here. Don't bring them as money bills."

4.15 p.m.: "Dispute resolution mechanism must be spelt out more concretely."

4.12 p.m.: "Third, concrete amendments moved by FM. Why should a tax collected by state not go to consolidated fund of the state?"

4.10 p.m.: "With regressive tax regime, you will increase hiatus between two Indias. Work on a fair revenue rate rather than revenue neutral rate."

4.09 p.m.: "In 2014, an RNR was also calculated at 27 per cent. We opposed it. It would cripple vast majority of people."

4.07 p.m.: "Today, 63 per cent already comes from indirect taxes. We have just 37.5 per cent from direct tax. We are hitting the poor and giving benefits to the rich."

4.05 p.m.: "Ambedkar says in debates that states should be free to change sales tax rates. The centre should not dictate it. He says states should have source of revenue. Some flexibility on states required."

4.01 p.m.: Article 1 says India is a union of states. Federal structure is fundamental to the constitution.

4 p.m.: Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) speaks. "P. Chidambaram sounds much better from the other side of the aisle."

3.56 p.m.: "Corruption increases with many tax departments. We have helped bring about consensus. But don't bring the GST bill as money bill. The two houses aren't different. There should be consensus between them."

3.52 p.m.: Sharad Yadav of the JD(U) begins speaking. "Local bodies, villages, cities are in a bad shape. What will be their health after this? Will it improve?"

3.47 p.m.: "We need to implement this on April 1, 2017. I need to put on record the great job done by the empowered committee of Finance Ministers. There are 4-5 nations where elections were won post-GST, some others who lost. It's 50-50. So, don't let elections bother you."

3.46 p.m.: "I would request Finance Minister to clarify why 'full' compensation for states for five years isn't there."

3.44 p.m.: "Mr. Jaitley said countries are thinking how important Upper House should be. This language seems to bulldoze Rajya Sabha."

3.42 p.m.: "18 per cent cannot go into constitutional amendment. This Parliament must debate, deliberate, legislate and also implement."

3.41 p.m.: "Mr. Chidambaram, your colleagues' tactic in select committee was 'go slow' policy."

3.38 p.m.: "They would have won the Olympic medal for ping pong with the way these two parties have played with the GST for the last 10 years." Mr. O'Brien reads out quotes from both parties. "In 2011, Gujarat Finance Minister opposed GST calling it retrograde. What they say depends on where they sit."

3.35 p.m.: Derek O'Brien from the Trinamool Congress begins speaking. "My party is asked whether we support GST. We have been consistent for years. The ruling and opposition parties should be asked this."

3.31 p.m.: "Tamil Nadu is a manufacturing state. We will lose substantial revenue. GST method of levying tax is destination based, not origin-based. So we strongly oppose it. We will lose Rs. 9,270 crore. This is not a small loss. Even after 5 years, centre should compensate states for any loss."

3.30 p.m.: "Article 368 of constitution (amendment provision) is abused. Bill did not take note of diversity. We want petroleum kept out of GST permanently."

3.26 p.m.: "Federalism is a basic feature of constitution. This Bill violates federalism. It also violates Article 21 of the Constitution. This Parliament hs no competence to bring this Bill violative of federalism."

3.23 p.m.: Navaneethakrishnan from AIADMK begins speaking now. "This constituitonal amendment Bill is not valid. It violates the states' fiscal autonomy. It will give permanent revenue loss to Tamil Nadu. We oppose it."

3.22 p.m.: "Will you impose GST on food products too? Even if you impose 12-14 per cent on food, prices will go up."

3.18 p.m.: "When state GST law comes, if state imposes extra tax (say, on tobacco), will you be able to stop it? Small traders are opposing GST. We have demanded that traders with up to Rs. 10 lakh turnover be excluded from GST."

3.16 p.m.: "States want to be compensated for any loss even after 5 years."

3.15 p.m.: "Will you make GST network such that automatically states' share goes to states? After today, 15 states will have to pass it. But don't make it money bill after that. When will you implement it?"

3.13 p.m.: "If you say we will have to amend constitution if we change rates if we mention it here, cap maximum rates. Let minimumrates vary."

3.11 p.m.: "You kept two-thirds vote of states in GST council. But decision is by three-fourths. So, the centre's veto stays. You didn't cap rate here as you want to increase rate. Why don't you declare cap rate?"

3.09 p.m.: SP's Naresh Agrawal says that the Bill is not what the Select Committee had. "What is the mechanism to resolve disputes between the states and the Centre?"

3.07 p.m.: BJP's Bhupender Yadav says that GST will bring about a change in the country.

2.50 p.m.: "I want an assurance from FM that the GST bill will be brought as financial bill and not a money bill. Both Houses must vote on it."

2.43 p.m.: "If you jack up rate to 23-24 per cent, it will be hugely inflationary. Indirect taxes are 13-14 per cent now."

2.40 p.m.: "In the name of the people, I ask that you keep this rate at the level recommended to you by your CEA. You aren't putting it in constitutional amendment bill. But you must mention it when three months later you bring the GST bill here. We will campaign that it should not exceed 18 per cent."

2.35 p.m.: "We go about this by discovering what is called the revenue neutral rate (RNR). You derive the RNR and from that you fix the slab rates. RNR arrived at was 15-15.5 and then suggested that standard rate be 18. You can then have 18 minus or 18 plus, depending on the goods. We are saying this tax should not be changed by executive whim. Petrol prices change like this. People expect low indirect taxes."

2.31 p.m.: "The heart of this Bill is the rate of tax." The former Finance Minister reads portions from the Chief Economic Advisor's report. "Being an indirect tax, it should be kept as low as possible."

2.29 p.m.: "You must oblige the GST council to set up a dispute resolution authority, ex-ante. I am glad that some strengthening has been done to this provision. But there is still time to strengthen it. The Finance Minister can do so by inrtoducing an amendment during this debate."

2.26 p.m.: "The second major issue is dispute resolution. Dispute resolution between the Centre and a State or between two states or between a group states is not a matter on which the Constitution remains silent. Article 131 makes this very clear. Dispute resolution is judicial power. Time and again judges have said, if you encroach upon our judicial power we will strike it down. The draft circulated was abominally deficient."

2.24 p.m.: "How can you, in a destination-based tax, have a retrograde provision like some states being allowed to impose an additional one per cent tax? The CEA pointed out that this was a retrograde provision and I am happy it was scrapped."

2.21 p.m.: "There are four major issues. First, there are still pieces of clumsy drafting in this Bill. You have made some provisions of what will or will not go in consolidated fund of India in the amendment. This should have been thought of earlier. Revenue must go in consolidated fund. It can't go anywhere else. The draft Bill leaves it unanswered."

2.19 p.m.: "The Congress party was never opposed to the idea of GST. We are not discussing or debating that. It is only the Bill that is being opposed, because we felt that it was possible to have a more perfect bill."

2.18 p.m.: "Between 2011 and 2014 I did what was virtually a char dham. We tried to pass the GST Bill with the support of the principal Opposition party and we failed. In the past two years, the government also tried to pass the GST Bill without the support of the principal Opposition party and I am glad you also failed."

2.16 p.m.: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram begins speaking. "I welcome the friendly and conciliatory tone of the FInance Minister's speech."

2.16 p.m.: Arun Jaitley moves the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

2.14 p.m.: GST could make some products cost less, says Mr. Jaitley.

2.12 p.m.: Three enabling laws, two by Parliament and one by the State legislature would have to be passed.

2.10 p.m.: As a part of consensus, states felt that consumable alcohol had to be kept out. "The concept of GST council is Indian federalism at play. Two-thirds of voting power in the council belongs to the states."

2.09 p.m.: Finance Minister says that a legislation of this kind can't be based on partisan considerations.

2.06 p.m.: "Empowered Committee of State Finance Minister was consulted from time to time."

2.04 p.m.: "One of the contentious issues was to bring on board states which had reservations."

2.03 p.m.: Mr. Jaitley gives a history of the Bill until now. Read our summation of what happened with the GST Bill so far.

2 p.m.: Arun Jaitley begins with his speech on the GST Bill. "This is one of the most significant tax reforms in Indian history."

1.18 p.m.: Lok Sabha adjourned to meet again at 2.20 p.m.

1.16 p.m.: CPI-M, Kannur MP P.K. Sreemathi Teacher says that there occurs one rape in every 22 minutes. There are different reasons for crimes against women.

1.14 p.m.: TDP MPs' protests on their demand of special status continues

1.10 p.m.: Speaker Sumitra Mahajan lets MPs speak on farmers' issues with 30 seconds each.

1.06 p.m.: "Minimum Wages Advisory Board's allocation for farmers is a very meagre amount. Their payment should be increased," says BJP MP Satyapal Singh in Lok Sabha.

1.00 p.m.: Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 p.m.

12.57 p.m.: Rajya Sabha discusses cases registered under NDPS Act, 1985, regarding drug abuse during Question Hour

12.56 p.m.: Bhartruhari Mahtab, BJD, Odisha speaks about freedom fighter and Union Minister Late Biju Pattnaik and requests one road to be named after Pattnaik. "During his funeral, the former PM, present PM and future PMs were present and 3 national flags were laid on him during his last rites."

12.55 p.m.: In Lok Sabha, BJP MP Rahul Kaswan from Maharashtra, requests releasing of water for the state.

Vikas Pathak reports from Rajya Sabha:

12.47 p.m.: Minister Kiren Rijiju replies that in the last two years, unprecedented action has been taken by Centre.

12.44 p.m.: PS Bajwa of INC, says, "Three Punjab ministers are alleged to have a part in this smuggling. Get a CBI enquiry into synthetic drug problem."

12.39 p.m.: Minister Kiren Rijiju says, "Home Ministry is taking steps to contain and eradicate this menace. We have strengthened capacity in Punjab and its higher in Punjab than other parts of India."

12.37 p.m.: KTS Tulsi speaks on acute drug menace in Punjab. "It is believed that ministers in govt are involved in smuggling."

12.27 p.m.: During Zero Hour in LS, Daddan Mishra of BJP, Uttar Pradesh discusses the distribution of loans for farmers and asks for extension of deadline for payment of crop insurance premium.

12.24 p.m.: "Employment exchange is always informed whenever there is an opening. Jobs will be given on a regular basis," the Minister of Steel added.

12.18 p.m.: Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh, says, "Out of 16,000 families, 7,473 persons have been provided employment."

12.13 p.m.: Kiren Rijiju says, "When investigations are on, it is not proper for me to name a corporate or individual."

12.13 p.m.: Meanwhile in Lok Sabha, on bridge collapse in Maharashtra, Home Minister Rajnath Singh says, "The centre has dispatched two helicopters for rescue mission. He also assured the centre will extend full support to the state govt to overcome the crisis," reports Mehboob Jeelani.

Vikas Pathak reports from Rajya Sabha:

12.12 p.m.: Sharad Yadav of JD(U) says, "125 crore elect govts. Corporates tap phones. Pramod Mahajan's phone was also tapped. Guilty corporates should be arrested."

12.10 p.m.: MoS, Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju says, "It is a serious issue. We have asked Delhi Police to act on all complaints. Special cell has been set up and is acting. Centralised monitoring system is being strengthened."

"Sensitive issues of govt, individuals should not fall into wrong hands," he added.

12.09 p.m.: Sharad Yadav says, "These days anyone's phone can be tapped. Why don't you act against corporates."

12.08 p.m.: Former LoP (now the leader of this house) also had his privacy violated, says Sanjay Rout.

Mehboob Jeelani reports from Lok Sabha:

12.04 p.m.: On MP Bhagwat Mann's conduct of streaming a live video, Sumitra Mahajan says, "The probe is extended by two weeks and Mann has been asked to stay away until the committee drafts its response."

12.01 p.m.: Question Hour comes to an end in Lok Sabha.

11.58 a.m.: "We prepared a complete agenda and sorted all issues out," says Suresh Prabhu in LS, in reply to MPs from Kolkata raising issues of urban development in their state.

11.51 a.m.: Kanimozhi of DMK, Tamil Nadu speaks for bonded labours. "More than 40 years have passed since the law was passed. But they aren't getting any help from the government. Many migrant labourers also have no way to escape."

"2030 is a very very long term and something has to be done now for their rehabilitation."

11.48 a.m.: Renuka Chowdhury of INC says, "Farmers are unable to access loans since the utilisation certificates haven't been disbursed. Not even 30% of the farmers have got any relief."

"They won't be able to purchase fertilisers. As a result, there is going to be a bad kharif season in Telangana."

11.45 a.m.: TDP MPs continue protests in Lok Sabha as MPs place their questions.

11.40 a.m.: Arpita Ghosh of AITC, West Bengal questions in LS the training for the enrolled members under PMKVY.

11.41 a.m: There is a need to evolding development tourism, says Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe of BJP, Maharashtra in RS. This would give further impetus at enhancing literacy and knowledge.

11.37 a.m.: "I want to draw the attention of the Home Ministry with regard to trafficking of children. 4700 children missing or untraced in Delhi NCR. Action needs to be taken," says Dr. T. Subbarami Reddy, INC, Andhra Pradesh.

11.36 a.m.: Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) says in LS that PM Modi has given a clear indication that this govt will work for people who are poor, who need assistance.

11.34 a.m.: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana discussed in Lok Sabha.

11.31 a.m.: Madhusudan Mistry of INC, Gujarat says, "Many dams have been built in the state, but for all those people whose houses that were taken off to facilitate this, have not been provided resettlement. Even though those people left their homes to sacrifice for development projects, they weren't given any assistance by the Gujarat government. I demand justice for those people."

11.28 a.m.: "Last year the Ministry of Agriculture conducted a study and many vegetables and fruits have pesticides. Hope Central govt intervenes and ensures safety in any food item," says K.K. Ragesh of CPI(M), Kerala in RS.

11.27 a.m.: Md. Nadimul Haque of AITC, WB says, "Maggi was banned, but only the state of WB gave it a clean chit after examining it. We need to be strict, but we should not go on a witch hunt."

11.21 a.m.: "PM Narendra Modi has given a way for women in Science and Technology. There is a committee for the same. We've been working and we have given support to many universities for women to come up in their respective fields. Any women-centric issues in the country will be addressed by this department," says Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences

11.17 a.m.: In RS, Deputy Speaker P.J. Kurien asks members to submit notices for discussion.

11.14 a.m.: MPs speak in Lok Sabha amid sloganeering from TDP MPs saying, "We demand special status. We want justice."

11.09 a.m.: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says we are ready to discuss this issue on crimes against women.

11.09 a.m.: Lok Sabha begins Question Hour.

11.06 a.m.: Ruckus in Rajya Sabha. Jaya Bachchan, SP, Uttar Pradesh raises the same issue, along with various MPs. "We've been asking for many days to discuss the rape in Bulandshahar. We do not want any politicising in this regard."

11.04 a.m.: In Rajya Sabha, BSP chief Mayawati raises crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh.

11.03 a.m.: Various MPs lay their reports on table.

11.01 a.m.: Recently elected MP Dr. Subhash Chandra, Ind., Haryana, takes oath.

11.00 a.m.: Rajya Sabha proceedings begin for the day.