Swiggy isn't the only company complaining about forced GST payment

Tax consultants allege many others face coercion from field officers

The Karnataka high court's recent observations in a case related to Bundl Technologies, which operates food delivery platform Swiggy, has brought to the fore industry's grievances about goods and services tax (GST) field officers using coercion to get companies to pay the tax.

The court had directed the revenue department to consider a refund of Rs 27.51 crore to the company, which had alleged that money was collected from it using coercion during an investigation by the directorate general of GST (intelligence), about alleged wrongful availment of input tax credit.

Swiggy's owners contended that the firm had deposited Rs 15