Piyush Goyal counters Amit Mitra’s GST refunds claim

Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday countered the West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra’s claim on pending GST refunds of exporters.

“From May 31 to June 15, all exporters were asked to claim refund and most of those who applied were paid. For claims up to Rs 10 lakh, a self-certification was required. For those who claimed above Rs 10 lakh, were asked to provide a chartered accountant’s certificate. The State Government must be knowing about that,” Goyal said.

Mitra had recently claimed that a large number of exporters across the country were awaiting refunds to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore, which have been stuck due to inability of the GST Network.

There have been three lakh applications from exporters of the country, involving Rs 25,000 crore, which are awaiting refunds, Mitra, who is also a GST Council member, had said.

To a question on Mitra’s allegation about rise in hawala transaction due to lacunae in the GST automatic digitised process, Goyal said Mitra should make efforts to stop these illegal transactions.