Finance minister Arun Jaitley is addressing a press conference over a host of issues surrounding the note ban and the criticism of it. Direct and Indirect taxes moved up post note ban and collections are up in December as compared to November.

In a statement, the finance minister said that in December, customs collections dipped 6.1 per cent as gold imports came down; excise, which is linked to manufacturing increased 31.6 per cent; service tax up 12.4 per cent. Indirect tax collection in December 2016 up 14.2 per cent, excise collection up 43 per cent, service tax 23.9 per cent, customs duty increases 4.1 per cent, indirect tax collection in April-December 2015 up 25 per cent. April-December 2016 direct tax collection up 12.01 per cent.