The southern hemisphere and the summers that the people experience there has gotten severe in last few days and this year literally the rubrics of human existence were put to gruesome test with the months of April and May witnessing multiple tranches of heatwaves have swept across the sub-continent in the past months (April-May).
Air Conditioning: From Luxury to Necessity
With many cities as well towns witnessing temperatures as high as a burning 50 degrees Celsius, the mercury scaled the summit of high temperatures fervently.
In the scorching heat, people are resorting to air-conditioning to sustain the heat.
Air conditioner, which was once sign of luxury and opulence has moved up the ranks from being a luxury to now, a necessity.
Recently, there have been demands of change in tax regime of Air conditioners and other consumer durable items. Notably, these products have the highest GST slab of 28%, which is also the slab for ‘sin products’ like BMW cars, cigarettes and aerated drinks.
Public Demands for Tax Reforms on Essential Products
Many of the netizens have took to internet and have urged the government to move these products out of the existing tax bracket to make them more affordable and thereby accessible.
Many users sighted instances of heatwaves and asked the government to slash the tax. Others said that these items are not luxury products anymore, and therefore needed to be brought out of the regime.
With many users calling the tax bracket as unjustifiable, urged government to change the bracket.
Previously, senior Congress leader and Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had raised similar demands. Singhvi even went on to term the tax on the item as ‘criminal’.
On the similar lines, some users have also demanded for other rudimentary services likes insurance to be removed from the high tax bracket.
