Concessional tax rate for ambulance and delivery vans upheld under a vehicle classification notification.

The reduced-rate tax notification covered trucks, buses, mini-buses and pick-up vans, and the issue was whether ambulance vans and delivery vans could also qualify even though they were not named expressly. The Court accepted that an ambulance van may be built or adapted in a manner similar to a truck or pick-up van, and that a mini-bus can operate as an ambulance after interior alteration. On that reasoning, it declined to deny concessional treatment merely because the vehicles were not separately enumerated, and the reduced rate of tax was applied to ambulance vans and delivery vans.

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Issues: Whether ambulance vans and delivery vans were entitled to the reduced rate of tax of 10 per cent under Notification No. 913-1358-V-ST dated 4th March, 1976.

Analysis: The reduced-rate notification expressly referred to trucks, buses, mini-buses and pick-up vans. The question was whether ambulance vans and delivery vans, though not named specifically, could still fall within the benefit of the notification. The Court accepted that an ambulance is a vehicle used for carrying sick persons and may be constructed in a manner similar to a truck or pick-up van. It also noted that a mini-bus could function as an ambulance after alteration of its interior layout. In that view, there was no reason to deny ambulance vans and delivery vans the benefit of the concessional rate merely because they were not separately enumerated.

Conclusion: Ambulance vans and delivery vans were held entitled to the reduced rate of tax of 10 per cent under the notification, and the question was answered in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

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