Govt scraps excise on point-of-sale machines

Notification to this effect tabled by FM, as merchants are being compelled to use them in wake of currency crisis

The Government today removed excise duty on goods for manufacturing of PoS (point-of-sale) machines that are in great demand as merchants are being compelled to use them in the wake of the currency crisis.

"PoS machines will be exempted from 12.5 per cent excise duty and 4 per cent SAD (special additional duty) till March 31, 2017," a source said.

A notification to this effect was tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha today amid uproar over the demonetisation issue.

The notification "exempts Central Excise/CV duty on all goods for manufacture of PoS devices subject to actual user condition and these exemptions will be valid till March 31, 2017".

There has been spurt in demand for PoS machines on account of cash crunch following scrapping of high value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 by the government with effect from mid-night of November 8.

The PoS machines are handheld devices which are being increasingly used by merchants to accept payments for goods sold through credit and debit cards.