Chandigarh, Aug 10 (PTI) The Punjab Assembly on Monday passed nine key bills including the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (PGST) Amendment Bill-2026, with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema saying it aims to promote voluntary compliance and streamline GST-related procedures across the state.

On the last day of the Monsoon session, the state assembly also unanimously passed the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2026, paving the way for capping fee hikes by private schools at 5 per cent per annum.

Finance Minister Cheema said the proposed amendments to the PGST provisions are designed to fundamentally support the trade and industry sectors by removing procedural bottlenecks, improving liquidity, and easing the overall compliance burden on taxpayers.

The amendments introduce key facilitative measures for the business community.

The proposed legislation extends the benefit of a 90 per cent provisional refund of Input Tax Credit (ITC) for cases involving an inverted duty structure. It also removes the previous lower threshold, permitting the refund of IGST paid on the export of goods even when the refund amount is less than Rs 1,000.

These carefully crafted changes are expected to significantly improve working capital liquidity and deliver much-needed financial relief to exporters and various other taxpayers throughout Punjab, Cheema informed the House.

Besides, the House also passed three bills pertaining to three new digital open universities: the Cloud University, Hoshiarpur Bill, 2026; the MS Digital University, Patiala Bill, 2026; and the Physicswallah Digital University, Patiala Bill, 2026.

The purpose of setting up these universities is to make provisions for robust academic and digital infrastructure designed to support high quality online education, digital content delivery, and technology-enabled learning at all levels in the disciplines of higher education including engineering, medical, life sciences, humanities, liberal arts, and management through digital e-learning, according to the bills.

The Punjab Protection of Trees Bill, 2026, moved by Forest and Wildlife Preservation Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, was also passed by the House.

This bill aims at the protection of trees and maintain green cover for ensuring ecological balance and to prevent pollution.

Besides, three other bills--the Punjab Common Infrastructure (Regulation and Maintenance) Amendment Bill, 2026; the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and the Punjab State Outsourced Personnel (Transition to Contractual Engagement) Bill, 2026 were also passed. PTI CHS KVK KVK KVK