Finance Ministry has clarified that the Swachh Bharat cess will not apply on those services for which payments have been received prior to 15th of November and invoices raised before 29th of November. It would mean that the Railway and flight tickets booked before 15th of this month would not attract the additional levy. The government had proposed to levy Swachh Bharat cess at the rate of 0.50 per cent on all services with effect from 15th of this month, which are presently liable to Service Tax. Finance Ministry in a statement said, this will translate into a tax of 50 paisa only on every one hundred rupees worth of taxable services. The proceeds from this cess will be used for financing and promoting Swachh Bharat initiatives to ensure cleanliness across the country. The Ministry said, service tax on restaurant bills would go up from 5.6 per cent to 5.8 per cent following the levy of Swachh Bharat cess. However, the Industry body, FICCI has said that the timing makes implementation challenging, particularly as it's festival season and changing billing systems in the middle of the month would be difficult. Industry chamber, Assocham said, government should postpone levy of Swachh Bharat cess on services offered by sectors like telecom, banking and airline by 15 days in view of procedural difficulties.