Parliament unanimously approves evaluation of Bill to cut GST on sanitary pads

The Parliament has accepted the Bill on cutting GST on sanitary pads and tampons for consideration and sent the Bill to the General Purpose Committee for evaluation.

The amendment to the GST Act was accepted into the Parliament with the unanimous vote of all 65 parliamentarians during the sitting this Wednesday afternoon.

Cutting GST on sanitary pads and tampons was one of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s election pledges and part of his legislative agenda.

The Bill was submitted to the Parliament on behalf of the government by Kurendhoo MP Abdul Baaree Abdulla.

All parliamentarians who spoke during the preliminary debate on the Bill voiced support for cutting GST on the products.

Many also pointed out the need for a monitoring mechanism to be put in place to check the market price of sanitary pads and tampons are lowered to correspond with the cut in GST.

The legislation follows numerous campaigns, mainly over the social media, urging the Parliament to cut tax on sanitary pads and tampons as it is a necessity, and not an optional product.