Aadhaar makes one more service easy!

Thanks to Aadhaar, GST registration would now be easy and hassle-free. The 35th meeting of GST Council on Friday decided to ease the enrollment process for new firms by allowing the use of 12-digit Aadhaar number for GST registration. Aadhaar is currently mandatory for receiving benefits of government's direct benefit transfer scheme, filing income tax returns etc. In the last few years, Aadhaar has made several public services hassle-free. 

Aadhaar is issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The official UIDAI website says, Aadhaar number is a 12-digit random number issued by the UIDAI (“Authority”) to the residents of India after satisfying the verification process laid down by the Authority. Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident of India, may voluntarily enrol to obtain Aadhaar number."

"Person willing to enrol has to provide minimal demographic and biometric information during the enrolment process which is totally free of cost. An individual needs to enrol for Aadhaar only once and after de-duplication only one Aadhaar shall be generated, as the uniqueness is achieved through the process of demographic and biometric de-duplication," it adds.

Other decisions by GST Council: 

- GST Council has extended the cut-off date for filing annual returns for FY18 by two months to August, 2019.

- The Council made it now mandatory for registered multiplexes to issue e-tickets. The electronic invoicing system would be rolled out in a phase-wise manner for B2B transactions.

- The proposal to slash GST on electric vehicles (EVs) from 12% to 5% has been sent to a rate fitment committee and the issue would be taken up in the next GST Council meeting. 

- The issue related to valuation of goods and services in a solar power generating system and wind turbine would also be taken up first by the panel of officers.

- The Council has extended the tenure of National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) by two more years to ensure companies pass on the benefits of lower GST rates to consumers.