Regarding the GST on helmets, the International Road Federation (IRF) on Wednesday urged the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council and the Finance Ministry to reduce it from 18 percent to zero. IRF says that doing so will increase its use. According to Bhasha news, IRF said in a statement that two-wheeler riders are the most vulnerable in road accidents. Reducing the GST rate on helmets will help in making helmets more affordable for common people.
suffer huge financial losses
According to the news, IRF, citing the ‘Bosch Report’, said that about 12 percent of the deaths in road accidents worldwide are from India. This causes an economic loss of about 15.71-38.81 billion US dollars to the Indian economy. IRF Honorary President KK Kapila said that two-wheeler drivers are the most vulnerable. About 31.4 percent of the deaths in road accidents are mainly due to head injuries.
Helmet usage is low in India
Kapila said that one of the most effective measures to reduce the number of injuries and deaths due to two-wheeler accidents is the use of proper helmets. Kapila said that helmet usage is low in India. It has been observed that most two-wheeler riders belong to the economically weaker and lower income groups and they prefer to buy cheap and poor quality helmets. Helmet is a life saving device and currently the applicable rate of GST on it is 18 percent.
He said that IRF believes that GST should not be imposed on helmets. He said that this will make good helmets more affordable for the general public and they will be discouraged from buying poor quality helmets. According to Section 129 of the Central Motor Vehicles Act 1988, wearing of helmets is compulsory for two-wheeler riders.
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