Applications for the LAMP Fellowship 2025-26 will open soon. Sign up here to be notified when the dates are announced.
The Uttarakhand Assembly concluded a two-day session on November 30, 2022. The session was scheduled to be held over five days. In this post we look at the legislative business that was carried out in the Assembly, and the state of state legislatures.
13 Bills were introduced and passed within two days
As per the Session Agenda, a total of 19 Bills were listed for introduction in the span of two days. 13 of these were listed to be discussed and passed on the second day. These included the Uttarakhand Protection of Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (Amendment), Bill, 2022, and the Uttarakhand Anti-Littering and Anti-Spitting (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
The Assembly had proposed to discuss and pass each Bill (barring two) within five minutes (see Figure 1). Two Bills were allocated 20 minutes each for discussion and passing - the Haridwar Universities Bill, 2022, and the Public Service (Horizontal Reservation for Women) Bill, 2022. As per news reports, the Assembly passed all 13 Bills within these two days (this excludes the Appropriation Bills). This raises the question on the amount of scrutiny that these Bills were subject to, and the quality of such laws when the legislature intends to pass them within mere minutes.
Figure 1: Excerpt of Uttarakhand Assembly's November 2022 Session Agenda
Law making requires deliberation, scrutiny
Our law-making institutions have several tools at their disposal to ensure that before a law is passed, it has been examined thoroughly on various aspects such as constitutionality, clarity, financial and technical capacity of the state to implement provisions, among others. The Ministry/Department piloting a Bill could share a draft of the Bill for public feedback (pre-legislative scrutiny). While Bills get introduced, members may raise issues on constitutionality of the proposed law. Once introduced, Bills could be sent to legislative committees for greater scrutiny. This allows legislators to deliberate upon individual provisions in depth, understand if there may be constitutional challenges or other issues with any provision. This also allows experts and affected stakeholders to weigh in on the provisions, highlight issues, and help strengthen the law.
However, when Bills are introduced and passed within mere minutes, it barely gives legislators the time to go through the provisions and mull over implications, issues, or ways to improve the law for affected parties. It also raises the question of what the intention of the legislature is when passing laws in a hurry without any discussion. Often, such poorly thought laws are also challenged in Courts.
For instance, the Uttarakhand Assembly passed the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in this session (five minutes had been allocated for the discussion and passing of the Bill). The 2022 Bill amends the 2018 Act which prohibits forceful religious conversions, and provides that conversion through allurement or marriage will be unlawful. The Bill has provisions such as requiring an additional notice to be sent to the District Magistrate (DM) for a conversion, and that reconversion to one’s immediate previous religion will not be considered a conversion. Some of these provisions seem similar to other laws that were passed by states and have been struck down by or have been challenged in Courts. For example, the Madhya Pradesh High Court while examining the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 noted that providing a notice to the DM for a conversion of religion violates the right to privacy as the right includes the right to remain silent. It extends that understanding to the right to decide on one’s faith. The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2006 exempted people who reconvert to their original religion from giving a public notice of such conversion. The Himachal Pradesh High Court had struck down this provision as discriminatory and violative of the right to equality. The Court also noted that the right to change one’s belief cannot be taken away for maintaining public order.
Uttarakhand MLAs may not have had an opportunity to think about how issues flagged by Courts may be addressed in a law that regulates religious conversions.
Most other state Assemblies also pass Bills without adequate scrutiny
In 2021 44% states passed Bills on the day it was introduced or on the next day. Between January 2018 and September 2022, the Gujarat Assembly introduced 92 Bills (excluding Appropriation Bills). 91 of these were passed in the same day as their introduction. In the 2022 Monsoon Session, the Goa Assembly passed 28 Bills in the span of two days. This is in addition to discussion and voting on budgetary allocation to various government departments.
Figure 2: Time taken by state legislatures to pass Bills in 2021
Note: The chart above does not include Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. A Bill is considered passed within a day if it was passed on the day of introduction or on the next day. For states with bicameral legislatures, bills have to be passed in both Houses. This has been taken into account in the above chart for five states having Legislative Councils, except Bihar (information was not available for Council).
Sources: Assembly websites, E-Gazette of various states and Right to Information requests; PRS.
Occasionally, the time actually spent deliberating upon a Bill is lesser than the allocated time. This may be due to disruptions in the House. The Himachal Pradesh Assembly provides data on the time actually spent discussing Bills. For example, in the August 2022 Session, it spent an average of 12 minutes to discuss and pass 10 Bills. However, the Uttarakhand Assembly allocated only five minutes to discuss each Bill in its November 2022 Session. This indicates the lack of intent of certain state legislatures to improve their functioning.
In the case of Parliament, a significant portion of scrutiny is also carried out by the Department Related Standing Committees, even when Parliament is not in session. In the 14th Lok Sabha (LS), 60% of the Bills introduced were sent to Committees for detailed examination, and in the 15th LS, 71% were sent. These figures have reduced recently – in the 16th LS 27% of the Bills were sent to Committees, and so far in the 17th LS, 13% have been sent. However, across states, sending Bills to Committees for detailed examination is often the exception than the norm. In 2021, less than 10% of the Bills were sent to Committees. None of the Bills passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly had been examined by a committee. States that are an exception here include Kerala which has 14 subject Committees, and Bills are regularly sent to these for examination. However, these Committees are headed by their respective Ministers, which reduces the scope of independent scrutiny that may be undertaken.
In the past few months, retail prices of petrol and diesel have consistently increased to all-time high levels. On October 16, 2021, the retail price of petrol in Delhi was Rs 105.5 per litre, and that of diesel was Rs 94.2 per litre. In Mumbai, these prices were even higher at Rs 111.7 per litre and Rs 102.5 per litre, respectively.
The difference in fuel retail prices in the two cities is due to the different tax rates levied by the respective state governments on the same products. In this blog post, we look at the tax components in the price structure of petrol and diesel, the variation in these across states, and the major changes in taxation of these products in the recent years. We also discuss changes in the retail prices over the past few years and how it compares vis-à-vis the global crude oil prices.
Taxes make up around 50% of the retail price
Public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) revise the retail prices of petrol and diesel in India on a daily basis, according to changes in the price of global crude oil. The price charged to dealers includes the base price set by OMCs and the freight price. As on October 16, 2021, the price charged to dealers makes up 42% of the retail price in the case of petrol, and 49% of the retail price in the case of diesel (Table 1).
The break-up of retail prices of petrol and diesel in Delhi (as on October 16, 2021), shows that around 54% of the retail price of petrol comprises central and states taxes. In the case of diesel, this is close to 49%. The central government taxes the production of petroleum products, while states tax their sale. The central government levies an excise duty of Rs 32.9 per litre on petrol and Rs 31.8 per litre on diesel. These make up 31% and 34% of the current retail prices of petrol and diesel, respectively.
Table 1: Break-up of petrol and diesel retail prices in Delhi (as on October 16, 2021)
|
Component |
Petrol |
Diesel |
||
|
Rs/litre |
% of retail price |
Rs/litre |
% of retail price |
|
|
Price Charged to Dealers |
44.4 |
42% |
46.0 |
49% |
|
Excise Duty (levied by centre) |
32.9 |
31% |
31.8 |
34% |
|
Dealer Commission (average) |
3.9 |
4% |
2.6 |
3% |
|
Sales Tax/ VAT (levied by state) |
24.3 |
23% |
13.8 |
15% |
|
Retail Price |
105.5 |
100% |
94.2 |
100% |
Note: Delhi levies 30% VAT on petrol and 16.75% VAT on diesel.
Sources: Indian Oil Corporation Limited; PRS.
While excise duty rates are uniform across the country, states levy sales tax/ Value Added Tax (VAT) which varies across states. For instance, Odisha levies 32% VAT on petrol, while Uttar Pradesh levies 26.8% VAT or Rs 18.74 per litre, whichever is higher. Refer to the table 3 in annexure for sales taxes/VAT levied across the country. The figure below shows the different tax rates levied by states on petrol and diesel. In addition to the tax rates shown in the graph, many state governments, such as Tamil Nadu, also levy certain additional levies such as cess (Rs 11.5 per litre).
Figure 1: Sales tax/VAT rates levied by states on petrol and diesel (as on October 1, 2021)
Note: The rates shown for Maharashtra are averages of the rates levied in the Mumbai-Thane region and in the rest of the state. Only percentages are being shown in this graph.
Sources: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; PRS.
Note that unlike excise duty, sales tax is an ad valorem tax, i.e., it does not have a fixed value, and is charged as a percentage of the price of the product. This implies that while the value of excise duty component of the price structure is fixed, the value of the sales tax component is dependent on the other three components, i.e., price charged to dealers, dealer commission, and excise duty.
Retail prices in India compared to global crude oil price
India’s dependence on imports for consumption of petroleum products has increased over the years. For instance, in 1998-99, net imports of petroleum products were 69% of the total consumption, which increased to around 95% in 2020-21. Because of a large share of imports in the domestic consumption, any change in the global price of crude oil has a significant impact on the domestic prices of petroleum products. The two figures below show the trend in the price of global crude oil and retail prices of petrol and diesel in India, over the last nine years.
Figure 2: Trend of the global crude oil price vis-à-vis retail prices of petrol and diesel (in Delhi)
Note: Global Crude Oil Price is for the Indian basket. Petrol and diesel retail prices are for Delhi. Figures reflect average monthly price.
Sources: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; PRS.
Between June 2014 and October 2018, the retail selling prices did not adhere to change in global crude oil prices. The global prices fell sharply between June 2014 and January 2016, and then subsequently increased between February 2016 and October 2018. However, the retail selling prices remained stable during the entire period. This disparity in the change in global and Indian retail prices was because of the subsequent changes in taxes. For instance, central taxes were increased by Rs 11 and 13 between June 2014 and January 2016 on petrol and diesel respectively. Subsequently, taxes were decreased by four rupees between February 2016 and October 2018 for petrol and diesel. Similarly, during January-April 2020, following a sharp decline of 69% in the global crude oil prices, the central government increased the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre and Rs 13 per litre, respectively in May 2020.
Sharp increase in excise duty collections
As a result of the increase in excise duty in May 2020, the excise duty collection increased sharply from Rs 2.38 lakh crore in 2019-20 to Rs 3.84 lakh crore in 2020-21. The year-on-year growth rate of excise duty collection increased from 4% in 2019-20 to 67% in 2020-21. However, sales tax collections (from petroleum products) during that period remained more or less constant (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Excise duty and sales tax/ VAT collection from petroleum products (in Rs lakh crore)
Note: The excise duty component in the figure includes cess on crude oil.
Sources: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; PRS.
Share of states in excise duty has decreased over the years
Though central taxes (such as excise duty) are levied by the centre, it has only 59% of the revenue from these taxes. The remaining 41% of the revenue is required to be devolved to the state governments as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission. These devolved taxes are un-tied in nature, states can spend them according to their own discretion. The excise duty levied on petrol and diesel consists of two broad components: (i) tax component (i.e., basic excise duty), and (ii) cess and surcharge component. Of this, only the revenue generated from the tax component is devolved to states. Revenue generated by the centre from any cess or surcharge is not devolved to states. Currently, the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, and the Road and Infrastructure Cess are levied on the sale of petrol and diesel in addition to the surcharge.
In the Union Budget 2021-22, the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development cess on petrol and diesel was announced at Rs 2.5 per litre and Rs 4 per litre, respectively. However, simultaneously, the basic excise duty and surcharge were reduced by equal amounts, so that the overall rate remains the same. Essentially, this provision shifted a revenue of Rs 1.5 per litre of petrol and Rs 3 per litre of diesel from the states’ divisible pool of taxes to the cess and surcharge revenue, which is entirely with the centre. Similarly, over the last four years, the share of tax component in the excise duty has decreased by 40% in petrol and 59% in diesel (table 2). At present, majority of the excise duty levied on petrol (96%) and diesel (94%) is in the form of cess and surcharge, due to which it is entirely under the centre’s share (Table 2).
Table 2: Break up of excise duty (Rs per litre)
|
Excise duty |
Petrol |
Diesel |
||||||
|
Apr-17 |
% share of total |
Feb-21 |
% share |
Apr-17 |
% share of total |
Feb-21 |
% share |
|
|
Tax (devolved to states) |
9.48 |
44% |
1.4 |
4% |
11.33 |
65% |
1.8 |
6% |
|
Cess and surcharge (centre) |
12 |
56% |
31.5 |
96% |
6 |
35% |
30 |
94% |
|
Total |
21.48 |
100% |
32.9 |
100% |
17.33 |
100% |
31.8 |
100% |
Sources: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; PRS
As a result, the devolution to states out of the excise duty has declined over the last four years. Even though the excise duty collections have increased sharply between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the devolved component has declined from Rs 26,464 to Rs 19,578 (revised estimate) in the same period.
Annexure
Table 3: Sales taxes/VAT rates levied on petrol and diesel across states (as on October 1, 2021)
|
State/UT |
Petrol |
Diesel |
|
Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
6% |
6% |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
31% VAT + Rs.4/litre VAT+Rs.1/litre Road Development Cess an d Vat thereon |
22.25% VAT + Rs.4/litre VAT+Rs.1/litre Road Development Cess and Vat thereon |
|
Arunachal Pradesh |
20% |
13% |
|
Assam |
32.66% or Rs.22.63 per litre whichever is higher as VAT minus Rebate of Rs.5 per Litre |
23.66% or Rs.17.45 per litre whichever is higher as VAT minus Rebate of Rs.5 per Litre |
|
Bihar |
26% or Rs 16.65/Litre whichever is higher (30% Surcharge on VAT as irrecoverable tax) |
19% or Rs 12.33/Litre whichever is higher (30% Surcharge on VAT as irrecoverable tax) |
|
Chandigarh |
Rs.10/KL cess +22.45% or Rs.12.58/Litre whichever is higher |
Rs.10/KL cess + 14.02% or Rs.7.63/Litre whichever is higher |
|
Chhattisgarh |
25% VAT + Rs.2/litre VAT |
25% VAT + Rs.1/litre VAT |
|
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |
20% VAT |
20% VAT |
|
Delhi |
30% VAT |
Rs.250/KL air ambience charges + 16.75% VAT |
|
Goa |
27% VAT + 0.5% Green cess |
23% VAT + 0.5% Green cess |
|
Gujarat |
20.1% VAT+ 4% Cess on Town Rate & VAT |
20.2% VAT + 4 % Cess on Town Rate & VAT |
|
Haryana |
25% or Rs.15.62/litre whichever is higher as VAT+5% additional tax on VAT |
16.40% VAT or Rs.10.08/litre whichever is higher as VAT+5% additional tax on VAT |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
25% or Rs 15.50/Litre- whichever is higher |
14% or Rs 9.00/Litre- whichever is higher |
|
Jammu & Kashmir |
24% MST+ Rs.5/Litre employment cess, Reduction of Rs.0.50/Litre |
16% MST+ Rs.1.50/Litre employment cess |
|
Jharkhand |
22% on the sale price or Rs. 17.00 per litre , which ever is higher + Cess of Rs 1.00 per Ltr |
22% on the sale price or Rs. 12.50 per litre , which ever is higher + Cess of Rs 1.00 per Ltr |
|
Karnataka |
35% sales tax |
24% sales tax |
|
Kerala |
30.08% sales tax+ Rs.1/litre additional sales tax + 1% cess |
22.76% sales tax+ Rs.1/litre additional sales tax + 1% cess |
|
Ladakh |
24% MST+ Rs.5/Litre employment cess, Reduction of Rs.2.5/Litre |
16% MST+ Rs.1/Litre employment cess , Reduction of Rs.0.50/Litre |
|
Lakshadweep |
Nil |
Nil |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
33 % VAT + Rs.4.5/litre VAT+1%Cess |
23% VAT+ Rs.3/litre VAT+1% Cess |
|
Maharashtra – Mumbai, Thane , Navi Mumbai, Amravati & Aurangabad |
26% VAT+ Rs.10.12/Litre additional tax |
24% VAT+ Rs.3.00/Litre additional tax |
|
Maharashtra (Rest of State) |
25% VAT+ Rs.10.12/Litre additional tax |
21% VAT+ Rs.3.00/Litre additional tax |
|
Manipur |
32% VAT |
18% VAT |
|
Meghalaya |
20% or Rs15.00/Litre- whichever is higher (Rs.0.10/Litre pollution surcharge) |
12% or Rs9.00/Litre- whichever is higher (Rs.0.10/Litre pollution surcharge) |
|
Mizoram |
25% VAT |
14.5% VAT |
|
Nagaland |
25% VAT or Rs. 16.04/litre whichever is higher +5% surcharge + Rs.2.00/Litre as road maintenance cess |
16.50% VAT or Rs. 10.51/litre whichever is higher +5% surcharge + Rs.2.00/Litre as road maintenance cess |
|
Odisha |
32% VAT |
28% VAT |
|
Puducherry |
23% VAT |
17.75% VAT |
|
Punjab |
Rs.2050/KL (cess)+ Rs.0.10 per Litre (Urban Transport Fund) + 0.25 per Litre (Special Infrastructure Development Fee)+24.79% VAT+10% additional tax on VAT |
Rs.1050/KL (cess) + Rs.0.10 per Litre (Urban Transport Fund) +0.25 per Litre (Special Infrastructure Development Fee) + 15.94% VAT+10% additional tax on VAT |
|
Rajasthan |
36% VAT+Rs 1500/KL road development cess |
26% VAT+ Rs.1750/KL road development cess |
|
Sikkim |
25.25% VAT+ Rs.3000/KL cess |
14.75% VAT + Rs.2500/KL cess |
|
Tamil Nadu |
13% + Rs.11.52 per litre |
11% + Rs.9.62 per litre |
|
Telangana |
35.20% VAT |
27% VAT |
|
Tripura |
25% VAT+ 3% Tripura Road Development Cess |
16.50% VAT+ 3% Tripura Road Development Cess |
|
Uttar Pradesh |
26.80% or Rs 18.74/Litre whichever is higher |
17.48% or Rs 10.41/Litre whichever is higher |
|
Uttarakhand |
25% or Rs 19 Per Ltr whichever is greater |
17.48% or Rs Rs 10.41 Per Ltr whichever is greater |
|
West Bengal |
25% or Rs.13.12/litre whichever is higher as sales tax+ Rs.1000/KL cess – Rs 1000/KL sales tax rebate (20% Additional tax on VAT as irrecoverable tax) |
17% or Rs.7.70/litre whichever is higher as sales tax + Rs 1000/KL cess – Rs 1000/KL sales tax rebate (20% Additional tax on VAT as irrecoverable tax) |
Sources: Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; PRS.
