I saw an ET report today on IAMAI’s representation ahead of the upcoming GST discussions on app based rides.
The headline says industry wants the 5% GST dropped. The deeper issue is more precise: who is legally liable to discharge the tax, and who ultimately bears its economic cost? The Captain, the passenger or the platform?
Section 9(5) places the statutory responsibility on the electronic commerce operator. But should every app be treated as the commercial intermediary merely because it enables discovery?
The question is sharper in a subscription based SaaS model. The platform generates leads and may provide price discovery through an indicative fare for negotiation. It does not charge the Captain or passenger for the ride, collect the fare, issue the ride invoice or control fulfilment. The Captain and passenger transact directly. The platform earns only a subscription fee.
GST can apply to that subscription service. But imposing it on the passenger fare creates a liability on consideration the platform neither receives nor controls. If passed to Captains, take home pay falls. If passed to passengers, affordability and disposable income suffer. If absorbed by the platform, a driver first model built on digitisation and economic participation becomes unviable.
This is not about removing GST from the ecosystem. It is about aligning liability with the actual transaction. A functional test based on fare control, fare collection, invoicing and ride execution can distinguish economic intermediation from technology access.
Clarity here would protect livelihoods, preserve affordable mobility and support the vision of Viksit Bharat through digitisation and economic growth.
No fare control. No fare collection. No liability on passenger fare.
🔥 SCOUT EXPOSED MAHI’S VICTIM NARRATIVE🚨
Turning a tiny situation into a huge emotional issue by dragging family and kids into it just to gain sympathy is a seriously low strategy. 🤮
But Scout stayed calm and saw straight through the narrative. 🐐🔥
#ScoutOP#ScoutArmy #BiggBoss20 #Scout #BB20
🚨 HUGE: Delhi Police has REGISTERED 4 FIRs over today's VIOLENCE during protests at Parliament Street.
18 people ARRESTED and produced before court. 🔥
Charges include STABBING, RIOTING, PROPERTY DEFACEMENT & OBSTRUCTING public servants on duty.
सीएम योगी का विजन संत रविदास नगर भदोही और पूरे पूर्वांचल को विकास की मुख्यधारा में सबसे आगे खड़ा करना है। सपा के समय में जो क्षेत्र भ्रष्टाचार और गुंडागर्दी का शिकार था, आज वहां ₹1340 करोड़ से अधिक की योजनाएं धरातल पर उतर रही हैं। योगी सरकार का काम बोलता है और सपा का खोखला है।
जुलाई 2012 में अखिलेश सरकार ने पंचशील नगर, महामाया नगर और भीम नगर समेत 8 जिलों से दलित महापुरुषों के नाम हटा दिए। 34 साल के इस जातिवाद ने हमेशा दलित पहचान और सम्मान पर सीधा प्रहार किया है। सपा कभी दलितों की हितैषी नहीं हो सकती। #Jativaadke34saal
Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party speak extensively about secularism and democracy at the national level. Yet, in Keralam, Congress has entered into political alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League Jamaat-e-Islami.
The Congress-led political front has increasingly come under scrutiny for its dependence on organisations such as the IUML, Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI. This reflects a political strategy driven more by electoral calculations than by the principles Congress claims to uphold nationally.
This is what we have been warning about since May 2025. We called it #APAKADAMPolitics — a politics that, puts political expediency ahead of development and governance.
The concerns go beyond alliances. Questions are being raised over Kerala’s economic situation, employment opportunities, investment, inflation and the government’s priorities. While ordinary families struggle with rising financial pressures, allegations of political privilege and extravagant lifestyles among those in power continue to fuel public anger.
At the same time, serious questions have been raised over security failures during the visits of senior constitutional authorities, including the Union Home Minister and the Vice President. Such incidents demand accountability and a transparent examination of the state’s law-and-order arrangements.
Kerala deserves a politics focused on development, investment, employment, security and equal opportunity #VikasitaKeralam for what BJP stands for— not one defined by appeasement, political compromises and allegations of corruption.
This is the choice before Keralam.
#EnthKitty
#APAKADAMPolitics