The GST Council, in its 28th meeting held on 21 July 2018 under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, approved a wide range of relief measures relating to GST rates, exemptions, input tax credit eligibility, and clarifications on services, aimed at reducing the tax burden and simplifying compliance across multiple sectors. Significant exemptions and rate reductions were extended to services related to agriculture, farming, food processing, education, skill development, social security, pension, and senior citizen welfare. The hotel industry received major relief by shifting GST on accommodation services to be based on actual transaction value rather than declared tariff. In the banking and IT sectors, services provided by Indian establishments to their related entities located outside India were exempted, while GST on e-books was reduced from 18 percent to 5 percent as part of a green initiative. Several government-related services, including guarantees extended to public sector undertakings and services provided by government bodies under welfare schemes, were also exempted. The Council rationalised GST treatment for composite supplies such as works contracts, multimodal transportation, and restaurant services, and issued detailed clarifications on education-related services, insurance schemes under Ayushman Bharat, architectural services linked to overseas properties, and electricity distribution-related works. Export-oriented relief was provided by extending GST exemption on outward transportation of goods by air and sea up to September 2019, and reverse charge liability was rationalised for services provided by direct selling agents to banks and NBFCs. These decisions were intended to provide targeted relief, remove interpretational disputes, and promote ease of doing business, with notifications proposed to be issued to give effect to the recommendations from 27 July 2018 onwards.