u/BestCA4U

Here’s what happened.
A wife filed RTI with the Income Tax Department seeking her husband’s income details from FY 2007-08 onwards — to support her maintenance claim. CIC ruled in her favour. Husband challenged it. Delhi HC quashed the CIC order completely.

What the court said:
ITR is personal information protected under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. A matrimonial dispute does not qualify as public interest. RTI was designed for transparency in public authorities — not private financial disputes.

What people are missing:
Court didn’t say wife has no right to know his income. It said RTI is the wrong tool. The right channel is Family Court — where both parties file income affidavits under oath. Lying there is contempt of court — criminal offense.

Bottom line:
RTI is powerful — but only for the right purpose. ITR is private — regardless of who is asking and why.
Case: Kapil Agarwal vs Central Information Commission — Delhi HC — April 28, 2026.

Most restaurant owners know that since January 2022, Zomato and Swiggy collect and deposit GST on your behalf under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act. You don’t charge GST on delivery orders — the platform does. Simple enough.

But here’s what almost nobody tells you.

MISTAKE 1 — You still have to report those sales. Separately.

Just because Zomato paid the GST doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for reporting. In your GSTR-1, those Zomato/Swiggy sales need to be reported in Table 8 — specifically under the ECO (Electronic Commerce Operator) supplies category. Not in your regular outward supplies table. In your GSTR-3B, these sales go in Table 3.1.1 — not Table 3.1(a) where you’d normally report your taxable supplies. These are two completely different tables. If you’re putting Zomato sales in the wrong place — or not reporting them at all because “Zomato already paid the GST” — your returns will show a mismatch and a notice will follow. I’ve seen this happen even with businesses that had a CA filing their returns. The CA simply wasn’t aware of the distinction.

MISTAKE 2 — Zomato sales count toward your turnover.

Even though Zomato collected the GST — not you — those sales still count toward your aggregate annual turnover for GST purposes. So if your Zomato/Swiggy sales were ₹30 lakh and your dine-in was ₹15 lakh — your total turnover is ₹45 lakh — not ₹15 lakh.

MISTAKE 3 — Dine-in and direct orders are completely different.

Section 9(5) only applies to orders placed through the app. It does not apply to dine-in customers, direct phone orders, or walk-in takeaway. For all of these — you are responsible for collecting and depositing GST yourself. Keep them completely separate — track them separately — report them separately.

WHY THIS MATTERS MORE NOW

GST department has been increasingly cross-referencing platform data with restaurant filings. Zomato and Swiggy report transaction data to the government. If your GSTR-1 doesn’t match what they’ve reported — you’ll get flagged automatically. This rule has been in place since 2022 — but the scrutiny is getting sharper in 2025-26.

If you run a restaurant or know someone who does — please share this. A lot of people are going to get notices in the next few months simply because nobody explained this clearly.