Will the GST rate on sanitary napkins be reduced?

Although the taboo around menstruation is slowly breaking, but not the GST rates on the sanitary napkins.

The 12% taxation chargeable on sanitary napkins has faced a backlash from citizens, as they feel a key sanitary need should not be included in such a high tax bracket.

Additionally, a large number of women in rural areas have limited access to sanitary napkins, which has further fuelled the demand to reduce the tax on the commodity.

As per a survey conducted by LocalCircles- an online social portal, 48% citizens said sanitary napkins should be exempt from the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), while 28% said the rate should be lowered to 5%.

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Citizens further recommended that instead of taxing sanitary napkins in India, the import duty on the ones coming in from China should be increased to eradicate unfair competition.

Protests have been witnessed time and again in different pockets of the country demanding the exemption of sanitary napkins under the GST ambit, in a bid to promote sanitation and hygiene among women.

Earlier in January, a group of students from Gwalior launched a campaign by writing messages on sanitary napkins to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to eliminate the designated 12%  GST on the product and make it free of cost.