Levy under Rajasthan APMC Act is Fee and not Cess and therefore not abolished after rollout of GST

Civil Writ Petition No.1451/2018 in the Rajasthan High Court

Rajasthan High Court has held that the levy under section 17 of the Rajasthan Agriculture Produce Marketing Act, 1961 is a ‘Fee’ and not a cess and therefore, the same is not abolished after the rollout of GST. The Imarti Lakdi Vyapari Sansthan had filed petition contending that the State Government has no power to charge tax/cess payable under the provisions of Rajasthan Agriculture Produce Marketing Act, 1961 from its members. It was contended that the cess on the purchase and sale of timber from the members of the petitioner society is illegal, as the same is not an agricultural produce. It was also contended that after the introduction of GST, the impugned cess cannot continue. The High Court however negated such contentions.