Punjab Assembly passes nine key bills
The Punjab Assembly on Monday, Aug 11 passed nine key bills, including the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (PGST) Amendment Bill, 2026, with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema saying it aims to promote voluntary compliance and streamline GST-related procedures across the state.
On the last day of the Monsoon session, the assembly also unanimously passed the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2026, paving the way for capping fee hikes by private schools at 5 per cent per annum.
Cheema said the proposed amendments to the PGST provisions were designed to support trade and industry by removing procedural bottlenecks, improving liquidity and easing the overall compliance burden on taxpayers.
The amendments introduce key facilitative measures for the business community. The proposed legislation extends the benefit of a 90 per cent provisional refund of Input Tax Credit for cases involving an inverted duty structure. It also removes the previous lower threshold, permitting refund of IGST paid on export of goods even when the refund amount is less than Rs 1,000.
These changes are expected to significantly improve working capital liquidity and deliver much-needed financial relief to exporters and other taxpayers across Punjab, Cheema told the House.
The House also passed three bills pertaining to new digital open universities: the Cloud University, Hoshiarpur Bill, 2026; the MS Digital University, Patiala Bill, 2026; and the Physicswallah Digital University, Patiala Bill, 2026. The purpose of setting up these universities is to provide robust academic and digital infrastructure to support high-quality online education, digital content delivery and technology-enabled learning across disciplines including engineering, medicine, life sciences, humanities, liberal arts and management, according to the bills.
The Punjab Protection of Trees Bill, 2026, moved by Forest and Wildlife Preservation Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, was also passed. The bill aims to protect trees and maintain green cover to ensure ecological balance and prevent pollution.
Three other bills — the Punjab Common Infrastructure (Regulation and Maintenance) Amendment Bill, 2026; the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and the Punjab State Outsourced Personnel (Transition to Contractual Engagement) Bill, 2026 — were also passed.
