Fact-Check: 18% GST on Good Morning Texts? No, ABP News Video Is Clipped!

The government is not going to impose 18 percent GST on 'good morning' messages on WhatsApp.

Fact-Check: The news clipping was published as a satirical piece.

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

A video with the logo of news channel ABP News is being shared to claim that the government will levy Goods and Service Tax (GST) of 18 percent on 'good morning messages' sent on WhatsApp from 1 April.

• The video shows a newspaper clipping with the headline, "18% GST will be imposed on good morning messages" in Hindi.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: The claim is false as the video is clipped.

• The longer version of the video explained that the newspaper clipping shown in the broadcast was actually a satirical piece published by the Navbharat Times newspaper on the occasion of Holi.

• The video was first published in 2018.

How did we find out?: At first, we ran a Google reverse image search on a few keyframes of the video and came across a longer version of the video on ABP's website.

• It was uploaded on 20 March 2018 with the title, "Viral Sach: Govt to impose 18% GST on sending good morning messages on WhatsApp?"

• We also came across the same video on their Facebook page.

We heard the full video and found the following:

• The viral video does not present the entirety of the video as it has been cut at the point where the anchor is reading the bit about the newspaper clipping.

• Further, a reporter goes on to talk about the 'truth' behind the alleged newspaper clipping.

• He mentions that their team investigated which newspaper published this information.

• Their investigation found that it was the Navbharat Times that printed the story on the occasion of Holi as a satirical piece in 2018 which was mentioned at the end of the story.

Here is a screenshot which shows that it was a piece published on Holi. 

(Source: ABP/Screenshot) 

The Quint was unable to independently find the version of the Navbharat Times newspaper clipping.

Conclusion: Clearly, a clipped version of ABP's investigation of the viral newspaper clipping is being shared on social media platforms.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on  WhatsApp at 9540511818 ,, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)