No GST Relief On Group Health Insurance Premium | HC

Case Details: E.P. Gopakumar vs. Union of India [2026] 182 taxmann.com 231 (Kerala) 

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Ziyad Rahman A.A., J.
• V.K. Prasad, Smt. Josna C.F., Smt. Rintu Paul, V.M. Krishnakumar, Dr. Silpa Aziz, Advs. & Renjith Thampan, Sr. Adv. for the Petitioner.
• Praveen K.S., Renjish S. Menon, Smt. Girija L., Smt. Sanjana R. Nair, Satheesh T.P., CGCs, P.R. Sreejith, P.T. Dinesh, Sr. Standing Counsels, V. Girishkumar, SC, P. Fazil, Jithin Paul Varghese, Fadil Fazil, Smt. Aswathy Jayachandran, George A. Cherian, Smt. M. Santhy, Smt. Latha Anand, Smt. Anna Rose Nambadan, S.Vishnu (Arikkattil), Sunil Shanker, Smt. Vidya Gangadharan, Thomas Glaison, C. Ajith Kumar, Smt. Varsha S.S., Smt. Rosanna C. Wilson, Dr. Pauly Mathew Muricken, H. Ramanan, Smt. Akshaya Thomas, Asvino Sheej S., Alan Philip Alex, Smt. Arathi Prabhakaran, P.R.Sreejith, Saju Thaliath, C. Prabitha, Advs. & George Cherian, Sr. Adv. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioners, who were retired bank employees, challenged the levy of GST on premiums paid towards group health insurance policies arranged through the Indian Banks’ Association. It was contended that the policies were procured to provide welfare benefits to retired bank employees and that collective arrangements should not exclude them from exemption. The Department of Revenue submitted that the exemption under the Notification applied only to health insurance services where the insured is not a group and that group policies with special rates and additional benefits, fall outside the scope of the exemption. The matter was accordingly placed before the High Court.

High Court Held

The High Court held that the exemption under Notification No. 16/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17-9-2025 is intended to apply exclusively to individual health insurance policies and not to group insurance. It was held that the exemption is limited to services of a health insurance business provided to individual insured persons and does not extend to group policies based on arrangements reached between an association and an insurer. Consequently, GST is leviable on premiums paid by retired bank employees towards group health insurance policies, affirming the Department’s stance under Section 11 of the CGST Act and Kerala GST Act.

List of Cases Referred to

• C.E.S.C. Ltd. v. Subhas Chandra Bose (1992) 1 SCC 441 (para 6), Commissioner of Customs (Preventive)
• Mumbai v. M. Ambalal and Co. (2011) 2 SCC 74 (para 6)
• Achal Industries v. State of Karnataka [2019] 104 taxmann.com 382/73 GST 196 (SC) (para 6)
• ITO v. T.S. Devinatha Nadar [1968] 68 ITR 252 (SC) (para 6)
• Educational Initiatives (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India [2022] 137 taxmann.com 4/63 GSTL 45 (Gujarat) (para 6).