Broadcast Ministry Requests GST Exemption On Digital News Subscription
NDTV
The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has urged the Ministry of Finance to either exempt the GST on digital news subscriptions or reduce it to five per cent.
The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has urged the Ministry of Finance to reduce the GST on digital news subscriptions. In a letter dated July 22, I&B secretary Sanjay Jaju requested his revenue counterpart Sanjay Malhotra to either exempt the GST on digital news subscriptions or reduce it from 18 per cent to five per cent.
He cited that newspapers were exempted from GST because the significance of giving "correct and factual information" to citizens was recognised. He also said that a similar disparity between printed books and e-books was addressed in 2018 when the GST Council reduced the GST rate on e-books from 18 per cent to 5 per cent.
"The number of paid subscribers for online news in India is very small as compared to the overall number of users accessing news on the internet. In this regard, it is observed that a higher rate of GST on digital news subscriptions may skew further growth of the online news sector towards an advertising model which may impact the quality and credibility of the news content on the internet through practices such as the use of clickbait and sensational headlines, and fake and misleading news, etc," the letter read.
