Ganpati Transport Service Vs Commissioner of Central Excise & CGST (CESTAT Allahabad)
The appeal before the Tribunal challenged an Order-in-Appeal dated 07.02.2025, which had partially upheld a service tax demand against the appellant, a partnership firm engaged in transportation of goods by road. The appellant operated both as a goods transport operator using its own trucks and as a Goods Transport Agency (GTA) under the Finance Act, 1994.
The dispute originated from third-party data received from the Income Tax Department indicating receipts of ₹6.08 crore during the financial year 2015–16. Based solely on this data, a show cause notice (SCN) dated 23.12.2020 was issued invoking the extended limitation period and proposing recovery of service tax amounting to ₹88.16 lakh along with interest and penalties. The SCN was adjudicated ex-parte, confirming the demand and imposing an equivalent penalty.
In the first appellate stage, the appeal was dismissed as not maintainable due to alleged non-compliance with the pre-deposit requirement. The Tribunal later remanded the matter for decision on merits. In the remand proceedings, the Commissioner (Appeals) reduced the demand to ₹26.26 lakh, holding that the appellant was a GTA service provider liable to tax on 30% of the taxable value, while also imposing penalty under Section 78.
