GST revenues take a beating as Council tweaks rates far too often

Centre to propose one a year tweaking; states say proposal is not enough, slabs need to be changed, experts call for flexibility to cater to immediate needs

According to the government's own admission, Rs 1.10 trillion out of the expected Rs 2.35 trillion shortfall in compensation to the states for implementation of the goods and services tax in the current financial year is due to the gaps in the existing GST system. 

The Centre paid compensation to the states from the cess levied for this purpose in 2017-18 (July-March) and 2018-19. However, the compensation cess could not collect the required amount in 2019-20 and became a major bone of contention between the Centre and the states in the ongoing financial year. 

While there are many reasons that