The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which will meet again on June 11, has approved the setting up of 18 sectoral groups as decided during its Srinagar conclave on May 18-19. These groups consist of senior officers from the Centre and states and they will interact and examine representations received from trade and industry associations of their respective sector. The approved eighteen sectoral groups pertain to banking; financial and insurance; telecom; exports including export-oriented units and special economic zones; IT/ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services); transport and logistics; textiles; MSMEs, including job work; oil and gas (upstream and downstream); gems and jewellery; services received and provided by the government; food processing sector; e-commerce; big infrastructure (airport, power, housing/construction); travel and tourism; handicrafts (exports); media and entertainment and drugs and pharmaceuticals. "The officials of these Sectoral Groups will deal with the issues and the problems of the respective sector(s) they represent. Concerned industry groups/Associations or even individual industry representative(s) may approach the respective Sectoral Group officers with their problems, if any, relating to GST implementation who, in turn, will try to guide and help them in resolving the same. This exercise will help in dealing with most of the sectoral problems and issues at the local/regional level," a finance ministry statement said. In its meeting on Sunday, the GST Council will take up the issue of approval of amendments to draft GST Rules and rate adjustment, if any, based on the representations received from different trade and industry and their associations, another finance ministry statement said. The Council will take up the pending tax rate for the lottery and the pending rules of e-way bill and accounts and records. Various states and industry associations have sought a review of the tax rates saying that the GST incidence is working out to be much higher than the present level of taxation. The auto industry has been demanding a review of the GST rate on mid and large-sized hybrid cars which are proposed to be taxed at 43 percent, higher than the current level of the effective tax rate of 30.3 percent. Also, the telecom sector has been placed in the 18 percent tax bracket and they are demanding that the rate should be lowered. COAI has written to the revenue secretary to review the matter. IT hardware firms are seeking a uniform GST rate of 18 per cent on IT products, like monitors and printers, instead of 28 percent proposed for some items.