To:
The GST Council of India
The Ministry of Finance, Government of India
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India

Subject: Request for a Clear and Comprehensive GST Exemption for All Mental-Health Services

Mental healthcare is an essential part of healthcare. Access to psychological support should not depend on whether a person can afford an additional tax burden for seeking treatment.

We therefore urge the Government of India to provide a clear, comprehensive, and uniform GST exemption for essential mental-health services, including psychotherapy, psychological assessment, counselling, behavioural therapy, and related therapeutic services provided by appropriately qualified and legally recognised mental-health professionals.

Why this matters
India faces a substantial burden of mental-health conditions, while access to appropriate care remains inadequate. For many people, mental-health treatment is not a one-time expense. Effective therapy may require regular sessions over weeks, months, or longer.

Any additional tax on these services can increase the total cost of treatment and create another barrier for students, young people, families with limited incomes, and others who already struggle to obtain care.

Mental healthcare should be treated as an essential component of healthcare—not as a discretionary consumer service.

The problem: lack of clarity and unequal treatment
Under Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), healthcare services provided by a clinical establishment, an authorised medical practitioner, or paramedics are exempt from GST. The notification also defines “health care services” broadly in terms of diagnosis, treatment, and care for illness, injury, abnormality, and related conditions.

However, the applicability of this exemption to different mental-health professionals and practice settings is not always clear or uniform. The result can be uncertainty for patients and providers and, in some circumstances, GST being charged on mental-health services.

This is particularly concerning because mental-health treatment can be delivered by a range of qualified professionals, including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychologists, counsellors, and other regulated or appropriately qualified professionals, depending on the nature of the service and the applicable legal framework.

The GST Council has previously recognised that certain rehabilitation professionals providing rehabilitation, therapy, counselling, and related services can fall within healthcare-related exemptions in specified settings.

The Government should build on this principle and ensure that essential mental-health treatment is not disadvantaged by ambiguity in the tax framework.

Our demands
We respectfully call upon the GST Council and the Government of India to:

1. Explicitly exempt essential mental-health services from GST.
This should include psychotherapy, psychological assessment and counselling, behavioural therapy, and other clinically indicated mental-health services provided by appropriately qualified and legally recognised professionals.

2. Ensure parity across mental-health professions and treatment settings.
Patients should not face different GST treatment merely because essential mental-health care is provided by a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, psychologist, or another appropriately qualified professional, where the service constitutes healthcare.

3. Issue clear guidance to eliminate ambiguity.
The Government should clearly specify which mental-health services and professionals qualify for the exemption so that patients, practitioners, hospitals, clinics, and online mental-health providers can determine their GST obligations without uncertainty.

4. Prioritise affordability and access to care.
Mental-health treatment often requires multiple sessions. Reducing or eliminating GST on eligible services would help lower the overall financial burden on people seeking sustained care.

5. Recognise mental healthcare as an essential component of healthcare policy.
Tax policy should support, rather than discourage, timely access to treatment for mental-health conditions.

Our appeal
A person seeking therapy is seeking healthcare.

Someone receiving treatment for depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, behavioural difficulties, or another mental-health condition should not face an avoidable financial barrier simply because the care is delivered through psychological or therapeutic treatment.

India cannot fully address its mental-health burden without making treatment accessible and affordable. A clear GST exemption for essential mental-health services would be an important step toward that goal.

We therefore call upon the GST Council, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to review the present framework and ensure that essential mental-health services are clearly and comprehensively exempt from GST.

Mental healthcare is healthcare. Access to it should be protected—not made harder to afford.

Sign this petition to support affordable, accessible, and equitable mental healthcare in India.