Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 | Chapter I: Preliminary

Section 1 of UTGST Act, 2017: Short Title, Extent and Commencement

Section 1 identifies the official name of the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, specifies the Union territories to which it extends and authorises the Central Government to bring its provisions into force by notification.

Section 1 - Statutory provision (as amended)

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

(1) This Act may be called the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

(2) It extends to the Union territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Chandigarh and other territory.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint:

Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.

The text above incorporates the territorial amendment made in 2020. See the original Act published in the Gazette (India Code) and the GST Council's UTGST legislation and notifications for primary legal materials.

Meaning and explanation of Section 1

Section 1(1): Short title

The short title is the formal name by which the legislation is cited: the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Act No. 14 of 2017). The Act received Presidential assent on 12 April 2017. Its purpose is to provide for the levy and collection of tax on intra-State supplies of goods or services or both in the Union territories covered by the Act, subject to its other provisions.

Section 1(2): Territorial extent

The term extent specifies the geographical reach of the Act. Following the relevant territorial reorganisations and amendments, Section 1(2) expressly names the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Chandigarh and other territory.

The original 2017 wording separately referred to Dadra and Nagar Haveli and to Daman and Diu. Following their merger, the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Regulation, 2020 updated the wording with effect from 26 January 2020. Section 136 of the Finance Act, 2020 further substituted the territorial reference to include Ladakh.

Important distinction: The list in Section 1(2) should not be treated as a list of every Union territory of India. The GST treatment of Union territories with legislatures, such as Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, is different; their intra-State supplies are generally governed by the respective GST legislation rather than the UTGST levy.

Section 1(3): Commencement by notification

Commencement means the date on which a legal provision becomes operative. Section 1(3) empowers the Central Government to appoint commencement dates by publishing notifications in the Official Gazette. Its proviso permits separate commencement dates for different provisions, so the enactment date and operative dates need not be the same.

When did the UTGST Act come into force?

Effective date	Provisions brought into force	Notification
22 June 2017	Sections 1 to 5, 17, 21 and 22	Notification No. 01/2017-Union Territory Tax, dated 21 June 2017 (G.S.R. 616(E))
1 July 2017	Sections 6 to 16, 18 to 20 and 23 to 26	Notification No. 03/2017-Union Territory Tax, dated 28 June 2017 (G.S.R. 701(E))

Consequently, Section 1 itself became effective on 22 June 2017, while the main levy and collection provisions commenced on 1 July 2017. Subsequent amendments have their own applicable commencement rules.

Related provisions and official sources

Section 2 of the UTGST Act defines expressions including appointed day (the date on which provisions of the Act come into force), Union territory and Union territory tax. Section 7 contains the substantive levy and collection provision. Section 21 applies specified provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, with necessary modifications.

For legislative text and later notifications, consult the official GST Council UTGST collection, the CBIC publication of the UTGST Act (original enactment wording) and the India Code portal. The Government's announcement concerning the 2020 territorial merger provides additional background.

This explanation addresses Section 1 and the amendments relevant to its wording. For any particular transaction or period, verify the applicable law and notifications in force on the relevant date.