Govt Ends GST Concession for Disabled Car Buyers; Uniform 18% Tax Now Applies to All
It becomes a necessity for individuals to buy a vehicle when their bodies have any disability because most public transport vehicles do not have wheelchair accessibility.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries under the Government of India has issued a notice (S/3/2022-PG-CELL COMP NO-24956) dated October 08, 2025, subject to “GST Concession on Purchase of Vehicles by Persons with Orthopaedic Physical Disability (PwOPD)-Clarification.”
Previously, individuals who had disabilities relating to their bones or movements had a GST concession certificate scheme, where they could get a special certificate from the Ministry of Heavy Industries to pay less GST when buying a new car. This was reducing the price of vehicles for the PwOPD category individuals.
However, now, according to the issued notice, the Ministry of Finance, via an Office Memorandum dated September 29, 2025, has clarified the following rules about GST on such vehicles:
- Cars that are small (less than 4,000 mm in length) and have petrol engines below 1200 cc or diesel engines below 1500 cc are already covered under entries 534 and 535 of Schedule II of Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated September 17, 2025.
- Additionally, cars for orthopaedically disabled persons are also mentioned separately under entry 536 in the same schedule.
- The Finance Ministry has now said that the GST rate for such small cars, whether bought by a general person or by a person with an orthopaedic disability, will be the same, i.e., 18%.
In other words, now the finance ministry has ended the GST concession scheme for new cars purchased by PwOPD. Meaning, there will no longer be an exemption of GST for cards purchased by PwOPD. Everyone will have to pay the uniform GST rate, i.e., 18%, regardless of whether the buyer has a disability or not.
Because of this rule, the Ministry of Heavy Industries has also decided to stop issuing GST concession certificates to PwOPD. The GST Exemption Certificate Scheme (GECS) that gave them this benefit has now been discontinued.
People are now requesting the government to reduce the GST rate again to 5% on cars for persons with disabilities and continue with the exemption certificate scheme.
