GST rate on electric vehicles slashed from 12% to 5%

The GST Council has reduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on electric vehicles (EVs) from 12% to 5%. GST rate on EV chargers has also been slashed from 18% to 5% from August 1, 2019. Earlier, the road transport ministry has proposed in a draft notification to hike the two fees in case of most categories of vehicles running on conventional fuel. The ministry has already notified a draft proposal to do away with registration fee of electric or battery-operated vehicles. Moreover, people buying new vehicles after scrapping old polluting ones will be exempt from paying the registration fee.