Bhubaneswar, May 16 (IANS): The Central government has extended the deadlines for various Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns for taxpayers registered in cyclone-hit Odisha, an official said on Thursday.

State Information and Public Relations Secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh said the Central government has extended the filing of GST returns in 14 cyclone affected districts.

The deadline for the GST returns (GSTR-3B) for the month of April 2019 has been extended to June 20. It was supposed to be filed by May 20.

The deadline for Form GSTR-1 (sales return) has been extended to June 10, said Singh.

"As the power and internet services were affected due to cyclone Fani in Odisha, the state government had requested the GST Council to extend the date of GST returns filing, which was accepted," said the Secretary.

Meanwhile, the Additional Secretary in the Union Finance Ministry, Debasish Panda, on Thursday reviewed the banking service situation in the cyclone affected districts. The meeting here laid emphasis on the revival of banking and insurance services in the state's affected areas.

Panda said that barring Puri district, 99 per cent of banks are functional in other areas of Odisha.

He also said that ATM issues are still continuing in Puri, Khordha and Cuttack districts because of poor connectivity that occurred due to VSATs being blown away in the cyclone. He assured that almost 90 per cent of the ATMs in Puri and Khordha districts would become functional by end of this week.