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GST RollOut: India Against The World
The year was 1954. In an attempt to reduce tax evasion, France introduced a new scheme which since has been adopted by more than 160 countries, the Goods and Services Tax. With an aim to introduce the concept of One Nation, One Tax, India recently joined the GST bandwagon to unite indirect taxes under one umbrella. In light of India’s newest entry, let’s take a look at how the GST taxes are levied around the world.
Just like the Indian Constitution, the GST has also drawn inspiration from other countries. The dual GST system which allows both levels of the Government to levy and collect taxes is similar to that applied in Canada and Brazil. In Canada, the Goods and Service tax is levied by the Federal government while the State levies the Provincial sales taxes ranging from zero to ten percent. Brazil also follows a similar structure with the Federal tax imposed by the center varies from 17% to 18% and the State tax varies between 4% and 255.
In India, however, GST is broken into four slabs between 5,12,18 and 28 percent but there are seven categories of taxes in total. While 75% of goods and services fall under the blanket tax of 18% certain commodities and services can be charged with 28% tax rates. In a majority of the countries around the world, a single central GST tax is levied sticking to the concept of One Nation, One Tax. Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, Mauritius, South Africa and the United Kingdom to name a few have only one tax rate across the country.
A strong reason behind India having a dual GST structure lies in the irregular distribution of finances with the majority of the population still living in rural areas. Another notable difference is the GST is payable at the final point of consumption meaning that current taxable events such as manufacturing of goods and rendition of services will not be relevant under the new regime.
The United States of America, despite being a major economy in the world does not have GST as States have high autonomy in taxation. Australia had one of the most smooth implementations of GST in 2000 with a rate fixed at 10%. Malaysia joined the GST bandwagon with 6% rate in 2015, after 26 years of debate. France levies GST at the rate of 19.6% today, while the GST rate in the United Kingdom is 20%.
Latest News
Centre Mulls Revoking X’s Safe Harbour Over Grok Misuse
The Centre is weighing the option of revoking X’s safe harbour status in India after its AI chatbot Grok was allegedly misused to generate and circulate obscene and sexually explicit content, including material seemingly involving minors. The IT Ministry has already issued a notice to X, directing the platform to remove unlawful content, fix Grok’s safeguards, act against violators, and submit a detailed compliance report within a tight deadline. If the government finds X’s response inadequate, it could argue that the platform has failed to meet due‑diligence standards under Indian law, opening the door to harsher action.
Under Section 79 of the IT Act, safe harbour protects intermediaries like X from being held directly liable for user‑generated content, provided they follow due‑diligence rules and promptly act on legal takedown orders. Revoking this protection would mean X and its officers could be exposed to criminal and civil liability for obscene, unlawful, or harmful content that remains on the platform, including AI‑generated images from Grok. This prospect significantly raises X’s compliance risk in India and could force tighter moderation, stricter AI controls, and more aggressive removal of flagged posts.
The Grok episode also spotlights the regulatory grey zone around generative AI, where tools can create harmful content at scale even without traditional user uploads. Policymakers are increasingly questioning whether AI outputs should still enjoy the same intermediary protections as conventional user posts, especially when they involve women and children. How the government ultimately proceeds against X over Grok misuse could set a precedent for AI accountability, platform responsibility, and safe harbour interpretation in India’s fast‑evolving digital ecosystem.
Latest News
How Pronto Is Redefining 10-Minute Home Services in India with a $25 Million Fundraise
Home services startup Pronto is in advanced talks to raise about $25 million at a near-$100 million valuation, underscoring strong investor confidence in India’s fast-growing 10-minute home services market. This potential round would be the company’s third major funding milestone after its $2 million seed and $11 million Series A in 2025, backed by marquee investors such as General Catalyst, Glade Brook Capital, Bain Capital and new participant Epiq Capital. The fresh capital is expected to further strengthen Pronto’s positioning as a leading tech-led household help platform for urban consumers.
Pronto operates a 10-minute on-demand home-services platform that connects users with trained, background-verified workers for everyday tasks like sweeping, mopping, utensil cleaning, laundry and basic cooking. Using a hub-and-spoke, shift-based model, the startup stations workers at hyperlocal hubs, enabling sub-10-minute fulfilment and more predictable earnings compared to the informal domestic-help market. Founded in 2024 by Anjali Sardana and based in Delhi NCR, Pronto has already expanded from Gurugram into major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune, and is handling around 6,000 daily bookings with nearly 1,300 active professionals as of December 2025.
The upcoming $25 million fundraise is expected to be used to enter more metros, deepen presence in existing neighbourhoods with additional hubs and upgrade Pronto’s technology for smarter routing, shift planning and real-time operations. A significant portion of the capital will also go into training, retention and benefits for its workforce to maintain consistent service quality at scale, especially as competition heats up from rivals like Snabbit and Urban Company in the rapid home services space. This near-$100 million valuation not only validates Pronto’s model but also highlights a broader shift toward organised, tech-driven domestic-help solutions in India’s largely informal home-services market.
Latest News
Bhavish Aggarwal Sells ₹325 Crore Ola Electric Stake, Retains Control
Bhavish Aggarwal has sold Ola Electric shares worth about ₹325 crore over three consecutive trading sessions, primarily to fully repay a promoter-level loan of ₹260 crore and release all pledged promoter shares. Despite the stake sale, he continues to hold a significant shareholding of over 34 percent in Ola Electric, and the company has clearly stated that there is no change in promoter control or his long-term commitment to the business. This one-time, limited monetisation at the promoter’s personal level is positioned as a structural clean-up rather than a signal of reduced confidence in the company.
The transactions, executed through open-market bulk deals, included an initial sale of about 2.6 crore shares worth roughly ₹92 crore at an average price of ₹34.99 per share, followed by additional trades of around ₹142 crore and ₹90 crore, taking the total sale value to approximately ₹324–325 crore. As a result, Aggarwal’s stake has fallen by a little over 2 percent, while all previously pledged promoter shares about 3.93 percent of Ola Electric’s equity are being released, removing the overhang and risk typically associated with pledged stock. The company has also clarified that these deals do not involve any capital raise or dilution by Ola Electric itself, which is important for investors tracking promoter stake and governance.
The share sale came at a time when Ola Electric’s stock had been under pressure, even hitting an all-time closing low amid concerns around growth, competition and heavy promoter selling. However, once the company confirmed that the stake sale was complete and all promoter-level pledges would be cleared, the stock rebounded sharply, gaining around 9–10 percent as markets welcomed the removal of this technical overhang. For investors, the focus is now expected to shift back to Ola Electric’s core fundamentals EV sales growth, margins, and market-share performance in India’s two-wheeler EV segment while the reduced promoter debt risk and continued high promoter holding offer some comfort on long-term alignment.

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