Cabinet clears changes to GST Bill

States to becompensated for any revenue loss for five years.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the changes suggested by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee last week to the proposed GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, which included giving States full five-year compensation for any revenue loss due to the introduction of the goods and services tax and exempting stock transfers within group companies from the 1 per cent additional tax on inter-State supplies.

The Select Committee last week agreed to almost all the provisions in the GST Bill, but had suggested a few amendments, which the Cabinet cleared along with several other decisions.

Infrastructure fund

Apart from the decision on the GST Bill, the Cabinet approved the setting up of a Rs 20,000-crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund proposed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget for 2015-16.

Protecting consumers

In addition, the Cabinet approved the Consumer Protection Bill 2015, which envisages a regulatory authority to curb unfair trade practices, along the lines of those in place in the U.S. and Europe for the fast-tracking of consumer grievances.

Anti-hijacking Bill

Finally, the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014, which looks to give the government more teeth in dealing with hijacking incidents involving Indian aircraft.

The Cabinet’s approval of these amendments comes after the Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha last December and then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which recommended the amendments.