The association has urged the ministers of all states to call an emergency meeting of the GST Council "immediately" to decide on the withdrawal of the tax.

"About 85% of the people of the country use unbranded goods and the decision to impose tax has been opposed all over the country, therefore, it is necessary to withdraw the tax to save the general public from unnecessary burden of extra finance and the traders from extra burden of tax compliances," said CAIT in the letter.

It further said that the GST exemption for loose items being sold was of no relevance as currently not many loose items or goods are being sold in the smallest town or village of the country. "Even the smallest items up to 100 grams are sold in packing. There is no use for this exemption," said CAIT secretary general Pravin Khandelwal.

He added that while goods above 25 kg have been exempted from GST, small traders and general public of the country are also not benefited by this exemption because people generally buy goods in packs ranging between 1 kg and 10 kg and they will have to pay 5% GST on them. "In this era of inflation, this tax will be a double whammy on the public," he said.

The GST Council during the meeting last month decided to do away with exemptions on a flurry of items including packed and unbranded foods like milk, curd, and items like dried leguminous vegetables and makhana, wheat or meslin flour, jaggery, puffed rice, organic food, manure and compost and bring these under the 5% slab. It has also imposed an 18% GST on fees charged by banks for the issue of cheques and a tax of 12% on hotel rooms below ₹1,000 per day, which currently falls under the exempted category.