NEW DELHI: The GST council's 50th meeting has decided to avoid Goods and Services Tax for rare Denosumab medicines that are imported after receiving private orders, mostly for treating cancer. These medicines are worth lakhs in the market. The council also decided to omit special foods provided for patients undergoing treatment for rare diseases.

Meanwhile, the GST council decided to levy 28% GST on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos. The council has not included the lottery business in the list which offered relief for Kerela. Earlier, finance minister K N Balagopal expressed doubts about the central government going to levy GST tax from the lottery business.

For more than one year time, discussions were galore about including online gaming and casino in GST. State's including Goa and Sikkim beseeched the government to not include casinos in the GST list but was ignored.

A tribunal bench will be set up in both Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to sort out complaints even starting in 2017. A judicial member and a technical expert will join the tribunal. The selection process will begin soon.

States including Kerala rejected proposals to bring GST-based information under the purview of PMLA law. The states fear rampant misuse of power using the Enforcement Directorate if such reforms are made. Regarding the issue, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Delhi Minister Atishi entered into a verbal feud that went on for some time before both leaders decided to quell tensions.