HYDERABAD: Ticket prices for air-conditioned buses could go up by 5 per cent with the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) thinking of collecting the input tax credit from commuters. Under the new tax regime, the corporation will have to shell out 28 per cent GST on buying new buses and for bus body building at depots. RTC officials hope that the state government will step in to extend a helping hand to the struggling public transporter.
Under GST, buses and pre-fabricated buses carry 28 pc GST. TSRTC had announced in December last that it would procure 1,400 new buses, 300 of which were rolled out in May. The corporation has two bus body building units where they build bus bodies at a cheaper rate than at market rates.
Both – procurement of new buses and building bus bodies under GST – will cost the corporation 28 pc each. This in addition to a service tax compensation cess of 15 pc.
“We will have to relook at buying new buses. The matter is under discussion,” said Swarna S, chief financial adviser to TSRTC. The corporation would not hold the buying process but may go easy on the procurement in the next couple of months. “As of now, there is less demand for buses as it is not the season. So, for the next two months we can slow down bus procurement,” she explained.
Officials say the state government will not agree to absorb all the 43 pc taxation. TSRTC will have to buy new buses from within the budget allocated to it.
“We are thinking of levying a 5 pc input credit tax on AC buses but the idea is still in its nascent stage. Renting of properties opens up a new avenue of taxation of 18 pc GST for TSRTC,” said Swarna. “If input credit tax is available, TSRTC can offset the GST burden. A clearer picture is likely to emerge in a month’s time,” she added.
However, others in the transport industry say that high taxation cannot deter the state-owned corporation from buying new buses.”It surely will get help from the state government which will devise some new method that will help the corporation absorb the cost. For the manufacturers, this level of tax would mean a few months of dull sales, but no one is going to stop buying buses,” said Naveen Gupta , general secretary, All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).
Andhra Bank integrates GSTN Payment Interface
Hyderabad: Andhra Bank launched integration of GSTN Payment Interface of Andhra Bank with effect from July 1 and is fully ready to implementat GST, bank general manager Krishnamurthy V Varanasi has said. In a press release, he said all the field functionaries of the bank were apprised of the features of GSTN Payment Interface, which facilitates collection of GST at all branches of Andhra Bank. GST payments at the bank have been enabled across all its branches through over the counter and through Internet Banking. For further details customers can log onto the bank’s website