TMC MP Derek O'Brien.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: With over Rs 24,500 crore collected as GST on health insurance alone in the past three fiscals, Trinamool Congress in Rajya Sabha on Monday demanded a rollback on GST on premium paid for life insurance and health insurance saying it is hitting the middle class.
Increasing the decibel levels on the issue, sources said, I.N.D.I.A. parties will stage a protest at the ‘Makar Dwar’ of the Parliament on Tuesday morning.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Trinamool floor leader Derek O’Brien warned of an agitation if the government does not heed to their demand of rolling back 18 per cent GST on health and life insurance premium. He also appealed to the BJD to support the demand.
He said if the government does not want to listen to the Opposition and take a decision, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should at least listen to her Cabinet colleague Nitin Gadkari, who wrote a letter raising the same demand on July 29.
O’Brien also said they should not allow the Finance Minister to “hide behind” the argument that she cannot do anything as the GST council, which is an advisory body, has to take a call. “The ratio of GST Council is NDA two and I.N.D.I.A. parties and others one,” he said.
Recalling that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Nirmala on the issue and Trinamool MPs Dola Sen and Saket Gokhale raising it in Rajya Sabha, he said the insurance penetration in India is less than 4 per cent when the international rate is 7 per cent. Majority of those who took insurance are for life cover, while very less have opted for health cover.
In a written reply to Trinamool MP Mala Roy in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the GST rate on health insurance has been 18 per cent since its inception.
However, he said certain insurance schemes catering to poor sections of the society and differently abled, such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Universal Health Insurance Scheme, Jan Arogya Bima Policy and Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme are exempted from GST.
According to the official details, the government has collected Rs 24,529.14 crore as GST from health insurance premium and health reinsurance premium between 2021-22 and 2023-24.