The Centre and the Congress party have agreed to devote five hours to debate the long-pending Goods and Services Tax Bill in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament. However, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has not decided when the debate will be held during the July 18-August 12 session, The Times of India reported.

Before the debate in the Upper House, the Bharatiya Janata Party will address the issues raised by Congress regarding the Bill separately. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and his deputy Anand Sharma are likely to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Tuesday to discuss changes to the proposed indirect tax reform, Deccan Herald reported.

An 18% tax rate cap, abolition of the 1% surcharge and the establishment of a dispute redressal mechanism, in addition to the proposed GST council, are among the changes the Opposition party has demanded in the Bill. Congress member Anand Sharma said, "There has to be a tax cap. We cannot leave it to executive arbitrage."

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However, the Samajwadi Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) both objected to this "bilateral" negotiation between the BJP and Congress. On Sunday, SP leader Naresh Agarwal even warned that his party could stall the legislation, while CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury demanded more consultations. Following this outcry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked the BJP parliamentary party executive to reach out to other parties, as well.

The BJP has been pushing for the GST Bill – a key economic reform – to be passed. It will bring in a single tax regime for the whole country and replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the central and state governments. The GST law can be enacted only after the Parliament and state legislatures ratify the Constitution Amendment Bill pending in the Upper House.