Niti supports elder care product tax revisions

NEW DELHI: The government think tank Niti Aayog has recommended a number of initiatives, including a reverse mortgage system to improve elderly people’s liquidity and tax and GST changes on senior care items to encourage adoption and protect the older population from financial stress.

The paper on senior care reforms in India suggested action in four key areas: health, social, financial, and digital. It stated that “encouraging the private sector to design targeted and comprehensive geriatric health insurance products and increasing liquidity and capital allocation to the senior care industry will help in addressing needs of the affording segment.”

It advocated raising awareness and promoting literacy among the elderly in order to protect them against financial fraud. “The government should reassess the reverse mortgage mechanism to increase liquidity for seniors and by making necessary amendments to the current reverse mortgage rules.”

The article advocated for creating a strong framework for digital inclusion, emphasizing the need to increase digital literacy, enhance access to digital services, and harness the power of contemporary technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things, big data, and machine learning to automate repetitive tasks. In India, the proportion of elderly people is now little over 10% of the overall population, but by 2050, it is expected to climb to 19.5%.

According to the article, by 2050, one in four Indians would be elderly. The industry’s “silver economy” will have a population equivalent to that of the United States in absolute terms. According to the study, the senior care market in India is estimated to be around $7 billion (about Rs 57,881 crore) and is predicted to expand quickly, providing plenty of opportunities for healthcare providers to develop solutions for the silver age.

Involving the private sector in projects like constructing senior care facilities, funding mobile medical units, and creating new insurance options for the elderly in the private sector were all recommended.
“Earmarking CSR funds as a contribution to national funds or for care provided to the non-affording category of seniors in their facilities in lieu of concessional land, utilities, tax rebates, etc,” according to the newspaper.