Nine Wheels Rent-A-Cab Vs Commissioner of Central Tax Rangareddy – GST (CESTAT Hyderabad)
The appeal was filed against the Order-in-Appeal dated 31.07.2013 passed by the Commissioner (Appeals), which had upheld the demand of service tax amounting to ₹20,23,419 along with interest under Section 75 of the Finance Act, 1994.
The appellant was engaged in providing Rent-a-Cab services to various clients, including units located in Special Economic Zones (SEZ). During the period 2008–09, the appellant provided services to a unit situated in an SEZ, namely M/s Wipro Ltd., and claimed exemption under Notification No. 04/2004-ST dated 31.03.2004. For services provided to Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) clients, the appellant paid service tax as applicable and filed ST-3 returns periodically in compliance with statutory provisions.
During an audit, the department observed that the exemption claimed under the notification was not applicable to the appellant. According to the department, one of the conditions of the notification required that the services be “used within the SEZ area.” It was alleged that the pickup and drop services provided to staff of the SEZ unit were not consumed or used within the SEZ area. Based on this finding, a show-cause notice dated 17.01.2012 was issued alleging that the appellant had not declared the actual amount received from the SEZ unit in the taxable value.
