EPCG exemption for hotel imports: architectural light fittings used in hotel services were held eligible for customs benefit.

Architectural light fittings imported by a hotel under an EPCG licence were treated as eligible for Customs Notification No. 28/97 and the EPCG scheme exemption. The items were covered by the licence and used in providing hotel services, and the Board's circular clarified that hotel-sector service providers could import consumer items such as chandeliers under the scheme after the earlier restrictive rider was deleted. In light of the settled position already upheld by the Supreme Court, denial of exemption was not sustainable, and the importer was entitled to relief.

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Issues: Whether architectural light fittings imported by a hotel industry under an EPCG licence were entitled to the benefit of Customs Notification No. 28/97 and the related EPCG scheme exemption.

Analysis: The imported items were covered by the EPCG licence and were used by a hotel industry for rendering services. The Board's circular clarified that service providers in the hotel sector could import consumer items such as chandeliers and similar items under the EPCG scheme, and that the restrictive rider in the earlier circular stood deleted. The same issue had already been decided in favour of hotel industry assessees, and that view had been upheld by the Supreme Court. Following that settled position, the denial of exemption could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The imported architectural light fittings qualified for EPCG benefit under the relevant notification, and the assessee was entitled to relief.

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