Zomato Limited informed stock exchanges on March 31 about receiving a GST order from the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit) in Karnataka for the financial year 2018-19.
According to Zomato’s disclosure, the order demands a GST payment of Rs 11,27,23,564, along with additional interest and penalty charges totaling Rs 23,26,64,271.
The action taken by the food delivery firm relates to an Adjudication Order passed under Section 73(9) of the CGST Act, 2017 and KGST Act, 2017. This order imposes a GST demand of Rs 11,27,23,564, along with interest of Rs 10,86,68,351 and a penalty of Rs 1,12,72,356, resulting in the total sum of Rs 23,26,64,271.
Zomato stated that it received the order and related communications on March 30, highlighting that the demand order pertains to excess availment of input tax credit and related interest and penalty. Despite providing clarifications supported by documents and legal precedents in response to the show cause notice, the authorities did not fully consider this information when issuing the order. Zomato expressed confidence in its position and intends to challenge the order before the appropriate authorities.
This development comes after Zomato was issued a GST penalty notice of Rs 8.6 crore by the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax in Gujarat.
In the previous trading session on March 28, Zomato’s stock settled at Rs 182.35 apiece on the BSE, marking a 1.59 percent increase (or Rs 2.85) compared to the previous day’s close.
