GST Council, 8 October 2026: no rate cuts, 5% GST on app delivery charges
The 57th GST Council kept rates unchanged, backed 5% GST on delivery through shopping and food apps, and moved to end GST arrests. What it means for you.
The GST Council held its 57th meeting in New Delhi on 8 October 2026, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Last year's meeting cut rates. This one was about how GST works: refunds, returns, notices and penalties. Here is what matters for you as a buyer, a salaried person or a small business owner.
No change in GST rates
The GST Council left GST rates on everyday goods and services unchanged on 8 October 2026. Your grocery, phone, appliance and insurance bills do not change because of this meeting. Business Standard reported before the meeting that officials want to review rates only once a year, with any change starting from 1 April.
Delivery through shopping and food apps
The Council recommended a GST rate of 5%, without input tax credit, on delivery services for goods ordered through an e-commerce app. It also recommended 5% without input tax credit when riders who are too small to register for GST deliver through an app, with the app paying the tax. On 10 October 2026, CBIC, the GST department, said on X that delivery services, such as those of food apps, were taxed at 18% and are now cut to 5%. It called social media posts about a new GST on deliveries wrong: this is a cut, not a new tax. Government sources told IBTimes that the 5% applies however the goods are carried.
What this means for you:
- Nothing changes yet. The cut needs a government notification. CBIC did not give a start date, and we found no notification when we checked on 11 October 2026.
- Your delivery fee may or may not fall. Apps decide what they charge you. Watch the GST line on your bill once the notification is out.
- The tax on the food or the goods themselves does not change.
Electric cabs and rentals
Cab and car rental services that use an electric vehicle, with charging included in the fare, get an option to charge 5% GST with limited input tax credit. This also needs a notification before it applies.
Smaller changes on goods and services
- Isabgol (psyllium seeds): nil GST, whether fresh, chilled, frozen or dried.
- Toys: the toy entry in the GST rate list covers all toys under customs heading 9503, such as dolls and puzzles, not only tricycles, scooters and pedal cars.
- Helicopter seat-sharing to and from the north-eastern states, Sikkim and Bagdogra becomes exempt from GST.
- Health and life insurance for businesses: businesses will be able to claim input tax credit on health and life insurance, which was blocked so far. Your own health and life insurance premiums are not affected.
If you run a small business
- Optional yearly return: the Council approved in principle a scheme for businesses with turnover up to ₹5 crore in the previous year that sell only to consumers. They would file one return a year and pay tax every quarter. The details come later.
- Late fees: businesses with turnover up to ₹5 crore will not pay a late fee on a return filed late, as long as it is filed by the end of the month in which it was due.
- Selling online in other states: small sellers can register in a state where they have no shop by naming the app's warehouse there, if they pass on input tax credit of no more than ₹2.5 lakh a month.
- Penalties and arrests: the power to arrest under GST is to be removed, the prosecution threshold rises from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, and the general penalty falls from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000.
When this takes effect
These are recommendations. Each one starts only when the government issues a notification, a circular or a change in the law. The new way of correcting returns applies from the return for April 2027. Outlook Business reported that the Finance Minister said the process reforms will start from 1 April 2027. We will update this guide when the notifications come out.
Sources: PIB: Recommendations of the 57th meeting of the GST Council, 8 October 2026, NewsX: delivery services tax cut to 5%, CBIC on X: delivery services GST cut from 18% to 5%, Punjab Kesari (IANS): claim of new GST on delivery services wrong, says CBIC, IBTimes: 5% GST on e-commerce deliveries across all transport modes, Outlook Business: GST Council meeting key reforms, Business Standard: GST Council likely to shun mid-year rate changes.
Rules, rates and limits change. Check the official source linked above before you rely on a figure here. Last checked 11 October 2026. Posts never contain referral or affiliate links from the writer.
Want to write for Saifu? Here is how.