GST Council may deliver blow to food-delivery operators Swiggy, Zomato

Online food-delivery operators such as Swiggy and Zomato may have to pay goods and services tax (GST) on restaurant services supplied through them. The GST Council in a meeting on Friday in Lucknow will take this up.

Estimating GST losses of Rs 2,000 crore in 2019-20 and 2020-21, the fitment panel has recommended food aggregators be classified as e-commerce operators and pay GST on behalf of the restaurants concerned.

Many restaurants are not depositing GST, while some are not even registered. The rate fitment panel has suggested the change come into effect on January 1, 2022, to allow food-delivery aggregators