Welcome back, chief.

In today’s edition — GST sleuths go full Sherlock on your biryani order, sniffing out a packaging charge that might just disrupt the food-delivery apple cart; and Hajmola is facing an identity crisis: is it a digestive tablet or candy? The answer could swing its tax fate from 12% to 18%.

Boxed, Packed… But Untaxed

—Vishwas Ved

It’s that day of week when we voluntarily dig deep, ask some semi-tough questions, and come up with answers probably nobody is looking for. Like, “Is the packaging fee quietly added to all your online food orders part of some tax conspiracy?”

We learn from an ET report this week that GST sleuths are sniffing around your biryani and burger parcels ordered from food-delivery apps, and believe you me, no snack is safe now.

Fee that Sent Notices Flying

The tax authorities noticed that eateries listed on food-delivery apps have quietly introduced something called packaging fee. But there was no tax paid on it. 

It works something like this: 

Let’s say you order a pack of biryani that costs ₹1,000 a box, ₹50 in GST (at 5% on food), and there's an additional charge of ₹100 as packaging fee, and a platform fee of ₹10 that’s inclusive of GST. 

The taxman’s now asking loudly: Who paid the GST on that packaging fee (of ₹100 in the example above)? 

But there’s no answer. All you get to hear in response is… crickets.

As a result, restaurants and food-delivery apps, such as Zomato and Swiggy, are under the scanner for whether they’ve been taxing the packaging charge since January 2022. 

The government’s stance is clear: if food and packaging come as one deal, it’s a “composite supply”, and therefore it should be taxed together. 

But if you separately charge a packaging fee, it could also be a taxable item. 

The Culprit: App or Eatery?

Food-delivery apps argue that they’re not liable to pay the GST because packaging is a separate fee levied by restaurants. 

The restaurants, on the other hand, are behaving more like a deer caught in headlights, and their response is: we weren’t told.

The tax department is left with no option but to play referee. Let’s see who gets to cough up the extra amount.

Next, Hajmola in Hot Water

After donuts and popcorn, it’s time for the humble Hajmola to listlessly wade through the GST quagmire, with its mind echoing with an existential question: 

‘Am I a candy or an ayurvedic digestive tablet?’

The identity crisis for Dabur’s Hajmola has been triggered by the GST department, which has some financial repercussions as well. A candy is taxed at 18%, while an ayurvedic tablet attracts only 12%. 

Dabur insists it’s ayurvedic, backed by court rulings, but the tax department doesn’t seem to agree, giving Hajmola itself an upset tummy. 

So, if you are looking to soothe yourself after an unctuous and slathered chole-bhature binge, Hajmola has still got your back. But at what rate? We don’t know yet. 

GST Stir-Fry

In the past, several snacks have been caught in the GST line of fire. Popcorn saga from December 2024 is still fresh and crunchy in our minds when multiplexes and tax authorities sparred over whether the delicious kernels were a meal or entertainment.

Then came donuts — Should it be taxed like a bakery item at 18%, or should it fall under restaurant services and attract only a 5% GST?

It seems every edible item is just one notice away from a courtroom drama. So don’t be surprised if someday, your papad becomes part of a debate in Parliament.

Ok Google, Learn to Spell Correctly

There is a new cultural discontent in Bengaluru. It’s not over statues or cinema; it’s over mispronunciation of the names of Karnataka towns. 

And guess who isn’t able to handle the names? It’s Google Maps, which is turning Karnataka’s town names into a linguistic hotchpotch worthy of outrage.

Naturally, some Kannadigans have taken it personally. According to them, the reckless pronunciation amounts to cultural vandalism by algorithms. 

Take Bilimale, for example. In Kannada, it means “white hillock.” But ask Google Maps, it will say ‘Bye-lie-male’, instead of the serene ‘BiLi-maley’.

Enter the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), which believes enough is enough. Chairman Purushothama Bilimale (yes, the namesake of the village) says these aren’t just names—they’re little ‘geographical poems’. 

But Google’s pronunciations seem to suggest you’re on a road trip to a place nobody has heard of before.

Therefore, the KDA authorities have joined hands with ISRO and will soon be knocking on Google’s doors. The aim is to replace mangled place names with accurate pronunciations.

There’s already an audio database of over 75,000 correct village pronunciations just waiting to be uploaded. 

Until then, enjoy your mispronounced journeys through towns Google renamed by accident. 

And remember: it’s not Donut-nagari or Popcorn-pur—though with India’s GST history, those might be real someday. 

82,000

That’s the December 2025 target for the Sensex given by Morgan Stanley. This number is 12% lower from 93,000 levels predicted earlier. The target is still around 7% higher from the current levels, and Morgan Stanley attaches a 50% probability of the index hitting this mark by December 2025. The report said: “This level assumes continuation in India's gains in macro stability via fiscal consolidation, increased private investment, and a positive gap between real growth and real rates. In our base-case, we also assume that the bulk of the tariff news is out.”

— New Max Financial CFO. Max Financial Services Ltd. has appointed Nishant Kumar Gehlawat as the new chief financial officer of the company with effect from May 1, according to an exchange filing on Tuesday. Gehlawat, who has been with the company for nearly two decades, will be replacing Amrit Pal Singh, the current CFO, who will step down from the position on April 30. However, he will retain his role as the CFO of Axis Max Life Insurance Ltd. Gehlawat has been with Max Group since 2007, gaining over 18 years of experience in areas like finance, corporate development, treasury, and investor relations.

— GST on Flat Maintenance ‘Not New’. Tax officials have clarified that the GST on apartment maintenance charges is not a new levy, but an existing regulation that has been in place since 2019. The clarification comes in response to widespread panic and speculation on social media and in housing society meetings, especially after renewed focus on the rule due to increasing compliance efforts by tax officials. In 2019, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs or CBIC mandated flat owners to pay 18% GST if their monthly payments to the Resident Welfare Association are more than ₹7,500.

— Banks Seek Power to Freeze Accounts. To check cyber fraud through mule accounts, banks are seeking authority to freeze accounts involved in channelling illicit transactions without wasting precious time in seeking permission from authorities. Banks freeze/block accounts based on internal triggers, however, as per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they do not have the authority to freeze or block customer accounts without proper authorisation from a court or law enforcement agencies.

— Zero-for-Zero Tariff with US Unlikely. A 'zero-for-zero' tariff strategy under the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US is unlikely, as the two countries are at different levels of economic development, official sources said. Certain trade experts have suggested that India can propose a 'zero-for-zero' tariff strategy to the US for addressing America's reciprocal tariff hikes. An official said that zero-for-zero tariffs can be possible between the US and the European Union as both are developed and advanced nations.

ICYMI | Gold for China in Rule-Bending Gymnastics

Missed last week's update? Trump dusts off his tariff hammer and whacks China with a 145% import duty, prompting Beijing to rush to the WTO; and a gang from Uttar Pradesh ran an Aadhaar card factory, equipped with silicone fingerprints and spoofed websites to create new identities for just ₹5,000 apiece.

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