The Goods and Services Tax Council on Saturday decided to increase the tax rates on mobile phones and its specific parts from the current 12% to 18%, PTI reported. The announcement was made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a press briefing in the national Capital.

The rise in the prices of mobile phones comes at a time when the electronics industry has taken a hit from slumping demand because of the current economic slowdown. The industry has also been impacted by the disruption of global supply chains amid continuing panic over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Council, in its 39th meeting, gave relief to domestic maintenance, repair and overhaul service providers by slashing the tax rate to 5% with a full input tax credit from the current rate of 18%.

Sitharaman said the Council has also decided to extend the deadline for filing of GST9R and GSTR9C for the year 2019-’20 till June 30 from the original date of March 31. Filing will be mandatory for taxpayers with an annual turnover of over Rs 5 crore as against the previous turnover limit of Rs 2 crore, CNBC-TV18 reported.

At the Council meeting, Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani made a detailed presentation to address the technical glitches of the Goods and Services Tax network, Sitharaman added. Nilekani said that all glitches will be streamlined by January next year and proposed a overhaul of the system to address the problems.