The GST Council is set to rationalise its elaborate officers' committee structure, proposing to discontinue most existing committees and replace them with just three key bodies. This significant overhaul comes nearly nine years after India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was first rolled out, aiming for greater efficiency and simplification.
New Streamlined Structure
Under the new proposal, the current complex structure will be replaced by:
- The Office of the Secretary to the GST Council
- The GST Implementation Committee (GIC)
- A Standing Committee of Officers
All other existing officers' committees are slated for discontinuation. This move follows the stabilisation of the GST system and extensive rate rationalisation efforts post the 56th GST Council meeting. The proposal was also a key discussion point at the sixth National Coordination Meeting held in August, where states and the Centre deliberated on committee structure, representation, and rotation.
Roles of Key Bodies
The GST Implementation Committee (GIC) will serve as the top-tier decision-making body, handling matters referred by the GST Council Secretariat. It will make decisions on Council-mandated issues and, when necessary, escalate critical matters to the Secretary to the GST Council, the Union Finance Minister, or the GST Council itself. The GIC will also continue its function as the Information Technology Grievance Redressal Committee.
The Standing Committee of Officers will focus on legislative and procedural aspects, including:
- Changes to GST Acts, Rules, notifications, circulars, and forms
- Examining proposals for new rules and processes
- Simplification of procedures
- Addressing representations related to GST law
State Representation and Centralized Tracking
The restructuring will also redefine state representation within the committees. The Standing Committee will include 12 state representatives. States will be grouped based on their relative size within the GST ecosystem, a metric derived equally from post-settlement gross SGST revenue for FY2025-26 and the number of registered GSTINs as of March 31, 2026.
Five larger states—Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka—are proposed as core representatives, exempt from rotation. The remaining seven positions will rotate every two years to ensure broader participation from other states. For the initial two-year cycle, states like Rajasthan, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Meghalaya are proposed to join alongside the five core states.
Furthermore, the proposal seeks to establish a centralised system within the GST Council Secretariat. This system will be responsible for receiving, screening, categorising, and tracking all representations. This will allow for the aggregation of similar issues and the prioritisation of matters with wider policy or systemic relevance for referral to the appropriate committee. The Standing Committee may also circulate agendas in advance to all states, allowing non-member states to participate in discussions on specific matters, with a 75% quorum proposed for its proceedings.