'Reduce GST on air purifiers': Delhi HC raps Centre over pollution crisis

The Delhi High Court criticised the Centre over its failure to tackle the city's air pollution and asked it to consider cutting the 18 per cent GST on air purifiers to provide relief to citizens

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday criticised the central government for "not doing enough" to deal with the national capital's worsening air pollution, Bar and Bench reported.

 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said if authorities are unable to ensure clean air for citizens, the least they can do is reduce the goods and services tax (GST) on air purifiers, which currently stands at 18 per cent.

 

The court said, “This is the minimum that you can do. Every citizen requires fresh air. If you can't do it, the minimum you can do is reduce the GST. Give an exemption for 15 days on a temporary basis. Treat this situation as an emergency. Take instructions and tell us now. Tell us now when you will come back with instructions."

 

"We will place it during vacation but only for compliance. How many times do you breathe in a day? 21,000 times. Just calculate the harm you are doing to yourself. We want instructions at 2:30. We will keep it for compliance during vacations,” the court stated.   

 

Plea seeks 'medical device' status for air purifiers

 

The court was hearing a petition that sought directions to classify air purifiers as a ‘medical device’ and reduce the GST on them from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. The petition was filed by advocate Kapil Madan, who argued that air purifiers cannot be treated as luxury items given the “extreme emergency crisis” caused by severe air pollution in Delhi.

 

“The imposition of GST at the highest slab upon air-purifiers a device that has become indispensable for securing minimally safe indoor air renders such equipment financially inaccessible to large segments of the population and thereby inflicts an arbitrary, unreasonable, and constitutionally impermissible burden,” Madan stated, as quoted by Bar and Bench.

 

According to the petition, air purifiers meet the criteria of a ‘medical device’ under a 2020 notification issued by the Centre.

 

“Air-purifiers perform a critical medical-device function by enabling safe respiration and mitigating life-threatening exposures, placing them squarely within the preventive and physiological-support purposes,” the petition said.

 

The plea added that charging 18 per cent GST on air purifiers is arbitrary, unreasonable and disproportionate.