Refund on terminal handling charges allowed where tax was paid under port services and omission to name the charge earlier was not fatal.

Refund of service tax on terminal handling charges was admissible where the tax had been paid under the notified category of port services and the claim was denied only because the component was not separately mentioned earlier. The Tribunal treated the omission as a narrow procedural ground and accepted that port services were covered by Notification No. 41/2007-ST. It also relied on the prior view that terminal handling charges linked to port services qualify for refund. The denial was therefore set aside and the assessee was held entitled to refund with consequential relief.

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Issues: Whether refund of service tax paid on terminal handling charges was admissible under Notification No. 41/2007-ST where the service tax had been paid under the category of port services and the claim was rejected only because terminal handling charges were not specifically mentioned earlier.

Analysis: The refund claim was rejected not on the ground that terminal handling charges were outside the notified service but only because they were not specifically mentioned at the earlier stage. The Tribunal found no dispute or record indicating that service tax on terminal handling charges was not paid under the category of port services. Since port services were admittedly covered by the notification, and the earlier decision of the Tribunal had already taken the view that terminal handling charges linked to port services were eligible for refund, the claim could not be denied on the narrow ground adopted by the authorities below.

Conclusion: The refund on terminal handling charges was held admissible and the appeal was allowed in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The denial of refund was set aside, and the assessee was held entitled to the benefit of refund with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Refund under a notified export service cannot be denied merely because a component charge was not specifically named earlier, if the tax on that charge was paid under the notified service category.

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