New Delhi, Oct. 8 -- The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Thursday cleared one of the biggest procedural overhauls of the indirect tax regime since its rollout in 2017, while leaving tax rates unchanged to provide greater stability.

The apex decision-making body sought to expand and expedite refunds to unlock working capital for businesses, curb the power of officers to arrest people suspected of evasion, shift verification from discretionary checks by officers to system-led risk rules, and restore certainty to day-to-day compliance, among other measures.

The decisions, which have been debated for months, come at a time when India needs sustained private investment growth to ...