The GST Council has reduced GST rates on goods being used in COVID related management until September 30. The decision came by the council in its 44th meeting on June 12. Mansukh L Mandaviya, Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers in Lok Sabha on Tuesday said that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), on June 15, directed all manufacturers and marketing companies of drugs and medical devices to revise the MRP–maximum retail price of items on which GST and tax rates have been slashed.
The reply from Mansukh L Mandaviya came in the backdrop of a question from Congress MP M K Raghavan, who had asked whether the NPPA asked pharma manufactures to slash the prices of medicines due to GST reduction.
The reduction in the price of COVID drugs and other related devices, services comes as a relief to the common man who went through the toughest phase financially since the onset of pandemic in March 2020. The change in prices came into effect on July 20.
