GST Council Members List: 33 Members Governing GST
48th GST Council meeting scheduled for 17th December 2022 after over a five months gap is not in compliance with the GST regulations of calling for meetings ‘at least one meeting every quarter of a financial year.’ The GST Council members met at the 47th GST Council meeting in June 2022.
The 48th GST Council meeting will likely fine-tune the details regarding the rationalisation of GST rates ahead of the Budget 2023 and, most importantly, the imposition of taxes on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos. Below, we elaborate on the GST Council and the pivotal role played by the GST Council members in implementing GST.
What is the GST Council?
Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out in the country through the 101st Act, 2016. Consequently, the President constituted the GST council under Article 279A as per The Constitution (One Hundred And First Amendment) Act, 2016, to make recommendations on important GST-related issues.
As per Article 279A, a GST Council is a joint forum of the centre and the states and is responsible for taking all major decisions related to GST. Subsequently, the union cabinet approved the first GST council on 12th September 2016, along with the setting up of the GST Council secretariat in New Delhi.
The GST Council was formed within 60 days after the commencement of Article 279A.
What is the Structure of the GST Council?
Presently, the GST council consists of 33 members. As per Article 279A, a GST Council will have the following members:
- The Union Finance Minister as the chairperson of the GST Council
- The Union Minister of State in charge of revenue (finance) from the centre
- A minister from each state who is either in charge of finance or taxation or has been nominated by the state to serve as a member of the GST Council
Accordingly, the ministers of state will elect a vice-chairperson of the GST Council from amongst the members. The Secretary (Revenue) will serve as the GST Council’s ex-officio secretary.
Additionally, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)’s chairperson is a permanent invitee to all the proceedings of the GST Council.
The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of the following authorities-
- GST Council, in line with the Article 279A of the Indian Constitution
- GST Council Secretariat, having its head office in New Delhi
- Secretary (Revenue), who is the Ex-officio Secretary to the GST Council
- Chairperson, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) who acts as a permanent non-voting invitee to all proceedings of the GST Council
- One Additional Secretary to the GST Council in the GST Council Secretariat (being at the level of Additional Secretary to the Government of India), and four Commissioners in the GST Council Secretariat (being at the level of Joint Secretary to the Government of India).
- Officers from the central and state governments.
The Centre provided adequate funds for incurring all the recurring and non-recurring expenses of the GST Council Secretariat.
Functions of GST Council Members
The primary function of the GST Council is to create a user-friendly and IT-driven GST structure based on wide consultation with the union and the states. Article 279A (4) enumerates the key functions of the GST Council members. We elaborate on them below.
Powers and Duties of GST Council Members
The GST Council is directed by the requirement for a harmonised national market and GST structure when carrying out the functions bestowed by the GST act.
(1) As per Article 279A (4), the GST Council should make recommendations on the following aspects:
- The goods and/or services that are either subject to or are exempt from GST.
- Any taxes, cesses, and surcharges already levied by the central government, states, or local bodies should be subsumed in the GST law.
- Recommendations about model GST laws and principles governing Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) levy and place of supply.
- Applicable GST rates and floor rates, particularly for raising additional resources during a natural disaster or a calamity.
- Special provisions for special category states and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir.
- Threshold turnover limits below which GST is exempted on certain goods and/or services.
- Any other GST-related issue as determined by the Council.
(2) The GST Council will propose the date from which GST on petroleum crude, motor spirit, high-speed diesel, natural gas, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will become applicable.
(3) The GST Council members will institute a mechanism to settle any dispute surfacing out of the council’s recommendations or their implementation between-
- The Union and one or more states
- The Union and any state(s) on one side versus one or more states
- Any two or more states
(4) The GST Council members will determine the procedure for the performance of their functions.
(5) Half of the total GST Council members shall constitute the quorum. Finally, every decision of the GST Council will require the majority approval of not less than three-quarters of the total votes of the members present and voting, subject to
- The Central Government votes hold a one-third weightage in total votes cast.
- The state governments’ votes account for the remaining two-thirds weightage of the total votes cast.
However, as per the latest Supreme Court (SC) ruling in Union of India Vs Mohit Minerals Private Limited, the recommendations made by the GST Council members are no longer binding on the government. The court stated that under Article 246A, both parliament and state legislatures enjoy the ‘simultaneous’ power of legislating on GST and can be flexible in accepting counsel of the GST council.
GST Council Members List 2022-23
The latest GST Council has the following members:
| S.NO. | Member | Post/ State |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman | Union Finance Minister |
| 2 | Shri Pankaj Chaudhary | Union Minister of State (Finance) |
| 3 | Shri Buggana Rajendranath | Finance Minister, Andhra Pradesh |
| 4 | Shri Chowna Mein | Deputy Chief Minister, Arunachal Pradesh |
| 5 | Smt. Ajanta Neog | Finance Minister, Assam |
| 6 | Shree Vijay Kumar Chaudhary | Finance and Commercial Taxes Minister, Bihar |
| 7 | Shri T.S Singh Deo | Minister for Commercial Tax, Chattisgarh |
| 8 | Shri Manish Sisodia | Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi |
| 9 | Shri Mauvin Godinho | Minister for Transport and Panchayat Raj, Housing, Protocol and Legislative Affairs, Goa |
| 10 | Shri Kanubhai Desai | Finance Minister, Gujarat |
| 11 | Shri Dushyant Chautala | Deputy Chief Minister, Haryana |
| 12 | Shri Jai Ram Thakur | Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh |
| 13 | Shri Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar | Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Jammu & Kashmir |
| 14 | Dr Rameshwar Oraon | Minister for Planning and Finance, Commercial Taxes and Food, Public Distribution, and Consumer Affairs, Jharkhand |
| 15 | Shri Basavaraj Bommai | Minister for Home Affairs, Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Karnataka |
| 16 | Shri K N Balagopal | Finance Minister, Kerala |
| 17 | Shri Jagdish Devda | Finance Minister, Madhya Pradesh |
| 18 | Shri Devendra Fadnavis | Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra |
| 19 | Dr. Sapam Ranjan Singh | Minister For Medical, Health, and Family Welfare Department, Manipur |
| 20 | Shri Conrad Kongkal Sangma | Chief Minister, Meghalaya |
| 21 | Shri Lalchamliana | Minister of Home and Taxation, Mizoram |
| 22 | Shri Metsubo Jamir | Minister for Rural Development, Nagaland |
| 23 | Shri Niranjan Pujari | Minister of Finance and Excise, Odisha |
| 24 | Shri K. Lakshminarayanan | Public Works Minister, Puducherry |
| 25 | Shri Harpal Singh Cheema | Finance Minister, Punjab |
| 26 | Shri Shanti Kumar Dhariwal | Minister for Local Self Government, Urban Development and Housing, Law, and Parliamentary Affairs, Rajasthan |
| 27 | Mr.Bedu Singh Pant | Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Industries, Sikkim |
| 28 | Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan | Minister for Finance, Human Resource Management, Tamil Nadu |
| 29 | Shri T.Harish Rao | Finance Minister, Telangana |
| 30 | Shri Jishnu Dev Varma | Deputy Chief Minister, Tripura |
| 31 | Shri Suresh Kumar Khanna | Minister for Finance, Parliamentary Affairs, and Medical Education, Uttar Pradesh |
| 32 | Shri Premchand Aggarwal | Finance Minister, Uttarakhand |
| 33 | Chandrima Bhattacharya | Minister of State for Finance, West Bengal |
You can also assess this list from the official website.
The GST Council is the first constitutional federal body to look into the GST law and determine its applicability after consulting with all states. The GST Council members are responsible for proposing changes to the GST law per the changing dynamics of the economy.
FAQs on GST Council
How many members presently constitute the GST Council?
There are a total of 33 GST Council members, out of which two belong to the union, and the remaining 31 are from the states and Union Territories.
Who heads the GST Council?
The GST Council is generally chaired by the Union Finance Minister. Thus, currently, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman is the chairperson of the GST Council.
Can the decisions made by the GST Council members be declared invalid in case of vacancies in the Council?
No, the GST Council’s recommendations cannot be invalidated on the grounds of vacancies or defects in the Council’s constitution.
