GST revenue growth and rising refunds point to potential GST Council review and consideration of rate rationalisation.
Gross GST collections rose 7.3% to Rs 1.77 lakh crore in December and, after higher refunds, net GST receipts increased 3.3%. Domestic and import-linked GST both grew while refunds, including export refunds, materially rose, indicating a stabilised refund framework. Commentators note potential GST Council scrutiny of taxpayer division and possible rate rationalisation as measures to boost consumption.

GST collections for December 2024: gross receipts, refunds and net realizations with state wise SGST settlements.
The release reports December 2024 figures for Gross GST Revenue, component CGST/SGST/IGST/cess receipts, total refunds (domestic and export/ICEGATE) and resultant Net GST Revenue at domestic, customs and consolidated levels, provides pre and post settlement SGST and SGST portion of IGST settled to States/UTs, and supplies state wise monthly growth rates, GSTIN counts and central versus state collection splits for April-December 2024.

E-way bill extension permitted for consignments affected by portal outage; extension and retrospective generation allowed.
Technical issues with the e-way bill portal have been resolved and affected taxpayers may extend e-way bills that expired at the outage using the "Extend EWB" facility; the extension window for bills expiring at the outage is extended to permit extension up to 1st January, 2025, midnight. Taxpayers and transporters who moved goods during the outage without generating e-way bills may generate required e-way bills on 1st January, 2025 via the portal, and may contact helpline or portal support for assistance.

Goods and Services Tax collection rises year on year, driven by domestic transactions and import duties; refunds increased, net receipts moderated.
The Goods and Services Tax gross receipts rose year on year in December with separate reporting of Central GST, State GST, Integrated GST and cess; domestic transactions and import duties were principal contributors. A marked increase in issued refunds reduced the growth rate of net GST collection, underscoring the distinction between gross mop up and net receipts after refund adjustments.

Biometric-based Aadhaar Authentication for GST registration requires GSK appointments and in-person document verification before ARN issuance.
Amendment to Rule 8 of the CGST Rules, 2017 enables identification on the common portal via data analysis, risk parameters, Biometric-based Aadhaar Authentication and applicant photograph, with physical verification of originally uploaded documents. GSTN's functionality, rolled out in Arunachal Pradesh, sends applicants after Form GST REG-01 either an OTP-based Aadhaar authentication link or an appointment booking link for a designated GST Suvidha Kendra where biometric authentication and document verification will be completed before ARN generation.