Overview

• The Reserve Bank of India recorded digital payments of about ₹11.31 lakh crore on September 22 and ₹11.19 lakh crore on September 23, coinciding with the GST reset and Navratri.
• Market researcher Redseer estimated 23–25% year‑on‑year growth in the first two days of festive e‑commerce sales, while Amazon logged over 38 crore visits with most traffic from beyond the top metros.
• Maruti Suzuki reported over 75,000 retail sales since Navratri began, roughly 80,000 enquiries and 18,000 bookings per day, and near‑doubling of bookings growth in Tier‑2 and Tier‑3 cities with small cars leading.
• The reform consolidates rates to 5% and 18% with a 40% band for select demerit or luxury items, cutting taxes on small cars to 18% and moving large TVs and several appliances to 18%, translating into visible price reductions.
• The Finance Ministry framed the rationalisation as a demand booster and part of a broader tax reform push, acknowledging an estimated short‑term revenue impact of about ₹48,000 crore as ministers hailed swift implementation.