IndiaPosted at: Oct 8 2026 7:21PM


GST 2.0 enters second phase with trader-friendly reforms, says Delhi BJP Chief Harsh Malhotra

New Delhi, Oct 8 (UNI) Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra on Thursday welcomed the measures announced at the 57th GST Council meeting, saying the reforms would provide relief to traders, small shopkeepers, MSMEs and exporters and make the tax regime simpler and more accessible.
Malhotra thanked union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the GST Council for what he termed “trader-friendly” measures, claiming that more than 10 lakh traders and members of the industrial sector in Delhi would directly benefit from the reforms.
He described the latest measures as the second phase of “GST 2.0”, saying the focus had now moved beyond rate rationalisation towards simplifying compliance and making the system more accessible.
“This is the second phase of ‘GST 2.0’, which has now moved beyond rate rationalisation to making the system simpler and more accessible for the people,” Malhotra said.
Among the key measures, he highlighted the GST Council's recommendation to remove the power of arrest of officers under the GST law and raise the prosecution threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.
According to Malhotra, criminal action would not be initiated in cases involving amounts below Rs 5 crore, which he said would reduce apprehension among small and medium-sized businesses.
He also welcomed the reduction in the general penalty from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10,000, saying the move reflected an approach based on proportionate penalties rather than disproportionate action for minor errors.
Malhotra said exporters would also benefit from measures aimed at speeding up GST refunds. More than 38,000 exporters would receive faster refunds of GST paid on services and plant and machinery, with 90 per cent of eligible refund claims to be released immediately after risk-based verification, he said.
The move, he said, would help unlock working capital for businesses, particularly those in service-exporting sectors such as information technology, engineering, and consulting.
He also welcomed simplification of procedures relating to GST registration, returns, and refunds. Routine changes in registration would now be accepted automatically, while the facility of filing annual returns for small taxpayers would continue, he said.
He said the Delhi BJP would extend support to ensure that the benefits of the reforms reached traders across the national capital.
“More than one million traders and members of the industrial sector in Delhi will directly benefit from these reforms,” he said, reiterating that the measures represented a shift towards a simpler and more trader-friendly GST regime.
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