After the 56th meeting (2025) rationalised GST rates, the 57th meeting of the GST Council turned to process — recommending removal of arrest powers, a higher prosecution threshold (₹1 crore → ₹5 crore), system-based refunds, wider input tax credit, and curbs on arbitrary interception of goods.

• Registration — a comprehensive circular and drop-down lists in FORM GST REG-01; automatic acceptance of amendments to registration particulars (except the Principal Place of Business, for regular registrants).
• Cancellation — automatic acceptance of a taxpayer’s cancellation request once returns are filed and dues paid; system-based suo motu cancellation and revocation for non-filing.
• E-commerce sellers — new rule 14B: small sellers can register in another State by declaring the e-commerce operator’s warehouse as their place of business, without a physical presence there.
• Returns — new electronic statements for reverse-charge ITC and credit reversal/reclaim; a mechanism to align GSTR-3B with GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B, and a defined window for keeping credit notes pending on the Invoice Management System (IMS). A public consultation precedes roll-out.

• Automatic refunds — full refund of excess electronic cash ledger balance without officer intervention; 90% of claims for exports and IDS sanctioned provisionally by the system on a risk basis (Phase 1); full automated sanction for zero-rated claims (Phase 2).
• Timelines — acknowledgement within 10 days (from 15), with deemed acknowledgement if the officer does not act.
• IDS refund widened — ITC on input services and capital goods becomes refundable. Earlier, rule 89(5) confined IDS refunds to inputs (goods) — a restriction upheld by the Supreme Court in VKC Footsteps (2021).
• Blocked credits eased (Section 17(5)) — ITC now allowed on items such as outdoor catering, health and life insurance, telecom towers, pipelines outside factory premises and free samples, reducing cascading.
• Export of services — supplies to a company’s own foreign branch can now qualify as exports; delivery to an overseas buyer inside an SEZ/FTWZ treated as a zero-rated supply to an SEZ.

• Arrest powers withdrawn — omission of Section 69 of the CGST Act. (The Supreme Court had upheld these powers in Radhika Agarwal v. Union of India, 2025, while laying down safeguards.)
• Prosecution (Section 132) — threshold raised from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore; offences narrowed to the core of fraudulent ITC (credit without goods, services or invoice).
• Notices and penalties — no show-cause notice below ₹10,000 of tax (applied to pending cases too); maximum general penalty (Section 125) cut from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000; 5% penalty in non-fraud cases if dues are paid within 30/60 days of the order.
• Appeals — pre-deposit in penalty-only cases capped at ₹40 crore (₹20 crore CGST + ₹20 crore SGST); GSTAT provisions aligned with the new tribunal-reform legislation.
• E-way bills — vehicles intercepted only on specific intelligence with authorisation of an officer not below Joint Commissioner; no interception in transit States; confiscation not applicable to goods in transit (except where no e-way bill or documents exist).

• Circular economy — plastic waste, e-waste, waste tyres and used cooking oil supplied by unregistered persons brought under RCM; 2% TDS on B2B supplies of such scrap — to formalise a largely informal trade.
• Electric mobility — optional 5% GST (with restricted ITC) on passenger transport and vehicle rental using EVs where charging cost is included.
• Platform economy — delivery services through e-commerce operators by unregistered persons brought under Section 9(5) at 5% without ITC.
• Exemptions — shared-seat helicopter travel to/from the North-East, Sikkim and Bagdogra; storage of seeds for sowing; curing of coffee; NIL rate on psyllium (isabgol) seeds; upfront payments to NHAI under the Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) model.

• 2017 — launch with multiple slabs (0, 5, 12, 18, 28% plus compensation cess).
• 2018–2024 — e-way bill system, QRMP scheme for small taxpayers (2021), e-invoicing phased down to ₹5 crore turnover, IMS for invoice matching.
• 56th meeting (2025) — “next-generation” rate rationalisation, moving most goods to two main slabs.
• 57th meeting (2026) — process simplification, decriminalisation and automation; continues the logic of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised minor offences across central laws.

• Deterrence vs trust — fake-invoice ITC fraud remains GST’s biggest leakage; removing arrest powers and lifting the prosecution threshold must be matched by strong data analytics and recovery tools.
• Automation risk — system-sanctioned refunds speed up cash flow but can be gamed; outcomes depend on the quality of risk-scoring and GSTN data.
• Federal angle — barring interception in transit States limits State enforcement reach; implementation requires Parliament and every State legislature to amend their GST laws.
• Revenue cost — wider ITC and refunds lower effective collections in the short run, though they reduce cascading and improve export competitiveness.
• Implementation gap — several measures depend on future circulars, portal changes and time-bound consultation; dates stretch to 2027.

Launched on 18 October 2016 and implemented by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), the National SC-ST Hub (NSSH) turns ten this month. Its core idea is to use public procurement as a market for SC/ST-owned micro and small enterprises, backed by skills, credit-linked subsidy and marketing support.

Figure 2 — NSSH: Key Impact Numbers

Procurement data are the scheme’s headline outcome; they measure market access, not firm survival or profitability. Image courtesy PIB / Ministry of MSME; reproduced with credit for educational use.

• Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS) — 25% capital subsidy (capped at ₹25 lakh) on plant and machinery bought with institutional credit; 3,160 MSEs supported (₹356.10 crore) across 233 districts up to March 2026.
• Single Point Registration Scheme (SPRS) — NSIC registration gives free tender sets and exemption from Earnest Money Deposit.
• Special Marketing Assistance Scheme (SMAS) — trade fairs, vendor development programmes with CPSEs, e-tendering workshops; support for up to four domestic and two international events a year.
• Reimbursements — 80% (up to ₹1 lakh) of loan processing fees, bank guarantee charges and BIS testing fees; Export Promotion Council membership; 90% of fees for short courses at top-50 NIRF management institutes; membership of GeM, e-Khadi, TRIFED/Tribes India and MSME Mart.
• Business Accelerator Programme — mentoring on strategy, pricing and operations.

Figure 3 — NSSH Capacity-Building Pillars

In 2025-26, 10,717 candidates were trained through 47 institutions in 27 States, including 24 Aspirational Districts; 55% were women. Image courtesy PIB / Ministry of MSME; reproduced with credit for educational use.

• Public Procurement Policy for MSEs (2012) — the overall MSE target was raised from 20% to 25% in 2018; the 4% SC/ST sub-target has applied throughout.
• Stand-Up India (2016) — bank loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for greenfield enterprises, to at least one SC/ST and one woman borrower per bank branch.
• Venture Capital Fund for SCs (2014-15) and the Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for SCs, under the Ministry of Social Justice.
• Union Budget 2025-26 — announced term loans up to ₹2 crore for 5 lakh first-time women, SC and ST entrepreneurs.

• Target vs achievement — the 4% sub-target has historically been met by relatively few Ministries and CPSEs; absolute growth in procurement does not by itself show the share achieved.
• Proxy ownership — the risk of enterprises being nominally SC/ST-owned to capture procurement benefits calls for verification.
• Regional concentration — benefits cluster in industrialised States; reach in tribal and remote districts remains thin.
• Delayed payments — MSE working capital suffers when buyers pay late, despite the 45-day payment norm under the MSMED Act and MSME Samadhaan.
• Outcome data — beneficiary and training counts measure outputs; firm survival, growth and job creation need independent evaluation.