Twitteratis raged on the social media platform after a recent GST rule by the Authority for Advance Rulings' Karnataka bench, according to whom parotta and roti are two separate shortbreads. The GST ruling said that unlike roti, parotta will be subjected to an 18 percent GST.
A reason the government has stated regarding the imposition of the tax on ready to eat parottas is a certain class of people can afford it. Furthermore, unlike rotis, khakras, and plain chappatis, frozen parotas are required to heat.
In a report by NDTV.com, government sources said, "It may be noted that frozen parota is preserved, sealed packed, branded and is usually sold at higher prices. It is not a staple item and is consumed by the class which could afford to pay taxes. Even items like cheaper biscuits, pastries, cakes, etc., attract GST at the rate of 18%. Frozen food would be more comparable to such item. Frozen foods cannot be comparable to plain roti or plain parotta served in restaurants or taken as a staple food, or eaten by poor on day-to-day basis (sic)".
The ruling was given in response to a Whitefield-based private food-makers' appeal to include parotta under the heading 1905 which includes rotis and khakras.
Twitteratis lashed out at the AAR and called it 'Food Fascism' and post hashtags such as #handsofparotta and #paranthataxterrorism. Furthermore, the tweets took a regional turn as parotta is a staple in Kerala. #HandsoffKerala started trending to condemn the decision.
