In re Karnataka State Agriculture Marketing Board (GST AAR Karnataka)
Summary: M/s Karnataka State Agriculture Marketing Board filed an application for Advance Ruling in FORM GST ARA-01 concerning the maintenance and operation of corpus funds for Shramiks and whether contributions collected from Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) attract GST. The Applicant stated that it was established under the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) Act, 1966, functioned as a Nodal Agency for welfare schemes, and maintained a Corpus Fund financed through contributions collected from APMCs for disbursing eligible death claims. The application was filed under Section 97 of the CGST Act, 2017 and the corresponding KGST provisions, read with Rule 104 of the CGST Rules, 2017. The Authority recorded that the Applicant had discharged only ₹5,000/- under an incorrect debit head and had not remitted the prescribed balance application fee. The Authority also noted that, under Column 13 of FORM GST ARA-01, the Applicant had not indicated the category of issue(s) in respect of which the Advance Ruling was sought and had not furnished its views or interpretation of law or supporting material. The Applicant was afforded opportunities through communications dated 06.03.2026, 25.05.2026, 08.06.2026 and 17.06.2026 to rectify the defects and remit the balance fee, but no reply or clarification was received and the requisite balance fee was not remitted. The Authority held that payment of the prescribed fee under Section 97(1) is mandatory for entertaining an application and that the failure to remit the prescribed fee rendered the application liable to rejection. It further observed that failure to indicate the category of question(s) required under Section 97(2) constituted a fundamental defect. Accordingly, the application for Advance Ruling was rejected as not maintainable for non-compliance with the mandatory requirement under Section 97(1) read with Rule 104 of the CGST/KGST Rules, 2017.
