New Delhi, Jun 1 (IANS): Revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in April crossed Rs 94,000 crore and was higher than the average monthly collection of Rs 89,885 crore during 2017-18, the government said on Friday.

"The total GST collection for May (April revenue collected in May) is Rs 94,016 crore, which is higher compared to average monthly collection of Rs 89,885 crore of 2017-18," Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said in a tweet.

"This reflects better compliance after introduction of e-way bills," he added.

As per the figures released by the Finance Ministry, out of the Rs 94,016 crore, Rs 15,866 crore was collected as Central GST (CGST) and Rs 21,691 crore as State GST (SGST). Rs 49,120 crore was collected as Integrated GST (IGST) and Rs 7,339 crore as cess.

Adhia said the number of returns filed for the month of April had also gone up to 62.46 lakh as against 60.47 lakh filed for March.

"Though current month's revenue collection is less compared to last month's revenue, still the gross revenue collection in the month of May is much higher than the monthly average of GST collection in the last financial year (Rs 89,885 crore)," an official statement said.

It added that the March revenue figure (collected in April) at Rs 103,459 was higher because of year-end effect.

The Ministry added that Rs 6,696 crore has been released to the states as GST compensation for the month of March.

"Therefore, the total GST compensation released to the states for the FY 2017-18 (beginning July) has been Rs 47,844 crore," it added.