New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea which said the authorities have effectively extinguished the concessional Goods and Services Tax benefits on the purchase of cars by persons with disabilities.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notices to the Centre and others, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, seeking their replies on the plea within four weeks.

“Issue notice, returnable within four weeks,” it said while hearing the plea filed by a 100 per cent visually-impaired man.

The plea, filed through advocate Sajal Jain, sought restoration of the concessionary GST framework for all eligible persons with disabilities (PwD) in conformity with Section 41 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which deals with access to transport.

“The present writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution challenges a series of measures by the respondents, which have, in effect, extinguished concessional Goods and Services Tax benefits for the purchase of cars by persons with disabilities,” the plea said.

It said that eligible PwD desirous of purchasing a car are being prejudiced as the authorities have constantly "shifted their stances" before different high courts from 2021 to 2025, which has led to the irregular operation of the concerned GST exemption certificate scheme.

The plea said concessionary tax treatment for cars for persons with disabilities originated in 1999 when the Ministry of Heavy Industries granted a reduced excise duty rate for cars driven by or meant for differently-abled persons, which was further liberalised in 2007.

It said that with the advent of the GST regime in 2017, the Ministry of Finance prescribed a concessional GST rate of 18 per cent for cars for differently-abled persons as against a higher rate for other cars, creating a distinct fiscal regime for such vehicles.

The plea said the petitioner had applied online in December 2024 for a GST concession certificate under the GST exemption certificate scheme for purchasing a car in Pune.

It said the application was rejected on January 1, 2025, solely on the ground that the scheme was available only for permanent orthopaedic disabilities.

The petitioner had approached the Bombay High Court challenging the rejection, the plea said.

During the pendency of the petition, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment first asserted that its committee endorsed extending the GST concession to all persons with benchmark disability and requested the finance ministry to frame the necessary policy, but later reversed this position within two weeks, the plea said.

“These shifting and contradictory stands before different high courts highlight the lack of a consistent policy and have led to unequal treatment of similarly placed PwD across jurisdictions," it said.

The plea also said that in September and October 2025, the concerned authorities issued a notice discontinuing the GST exemption certificate scheme altogether and ceasing issuance of GST concession certificates even to orthopaedically disabled persons.

“By equating PwD with non-disabled purchasers in terms of GST burden, withdrawing a long-standing beneficial scheme without any rational basis, impact assessment or successor mechanism, and denying reasonable accommodation for personal mobility, the respondents have acted in a manifestly arbitrary, discriminatory and disproportionate manner,” it said. PTI ABA ARI ARI

GST concession on car purchases for persons with disabilities is challenged after eligibility narrowing and scheme discontinuation. The petition challenges the narrowing and discontinuation of a concessional GST regime for cars for persons with disabilities, alleging that authorities rejected a concession certificate application by limiting eligibility to permanent orthopaedic disabilities, issued inconsistent policy positions before courts, and later ceased issuance of exemption certificates; the petitioner seeks restoration of the concessionary framework in conformity with Section 41 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and relief under Article 32.