Skip to content

9 October 2026 · National and international edition

57th GST Council Scraps Arrest Powers, Raises Prosecution Bar to ₹5 Crore in “Next-Gen GST” Process Reforms

  • GST Council
  • Article 279A
  • Decriminalisation
  • Input Tax Credit
  • Cooperative Federalism

Why it is in the news

On 8 October 2026, the 57th meeting of the GST Council in New Delhi, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, recommended a sweeping process-reform package — the second half of what she calls “Next-Gen GST” or GST 2.0. Its centrepiece is decriminalisation: the power of arrest under Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017 is to be omitted, the prosecution threshold rises from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, and the maximum general penalty falls from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000.

The exam angle

Issue: Can GST enforcement move from coercion to trust without weakening deterrence against fake-invoice and ITC fraud?

Written for APPSC Group 1, TGPSC Group 1 and UPSC Civil Services. More from 9 October 2026 or all current affairs.

57th GST Council Scraps Arrest Powers, Raises Prosecution Bar to ₹5 Crore in “Next-Gen GST” Process Reforms · PrepShark