Tour operator service tax depends on whether the vehicle used is a tourist vehicle meeting prescribed specifications.

Tour operator service tax applies only where the vehicle actually used for operating the tour is a tourist vehicle meeting the specifications prescribed under the motor vehicle law and Rule 128 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. Contract carriage or stage carriage status by itself is not enough, because those are modes of operation distinct from the statutory category of tourist vehicle. The levy cannot arise automatically from a contract carriage arrangement unless the specific vehicle used satisfies the prescribed comfort and equipment standards. The matter was remanded for verification of the actual vehicles used.

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Issues: Whether contract carriage operations are taxable as tour operator service only when the vehicles used satisfy the specifications of a tourist vehicle under the motor vehicle law.

Analysis: The definition of tour operator, as applicable to the relevant periods, was examined along with the statutory meaning of tourist vehicle under the Motor Vehicles Act and the specifications prescribed under Rule 128 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. The decisive requirement is that the vehicle used for operating tours must be a tourist vehicle meeting the prescribed specifications. Contract carriage and stage carriage are modes of operation, whereas tourist vehicle is a separate statutory category linked to prescribed comfort and equipment standards. The reasoning adopted also distinguished cases where a vehicle is used as a stage carriage or where it does not satisfy the tourist vehicle specifications, in which event the levy cannot automatically arise merely because the vehicle is used under a contract carriage arrangement.

Conclusion: Taxability depends on proof that the specific contract carriage vehicle used for the service met the tourist vehicle specifications; contract carriage operation by itself is not sufficient. The matter was remanded for verification of the actual vehicles used.

Ratio Decidendi: Service tax as tour operator service is attracted only when the vehicle actually used for operating the tour is a tourist vehicle conforming to the prescribed statutory specifications.

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