Limitation for service export refund runs from receipt of foreign exchange, not from provision of services, sustaining the refund claim.

For refund of unutilised Cenvat credit relating to export of services, limitation is computed from the date of receipt of consideration in convertible foreign exchange, because export is treated as complete only on such receipt. The Tribunal held that the one-year period could not be counted from the date of provision or export of services. As the refund claim was filed within one year from receipt of foreign exchange and that position was not disputed, rejection of the refund was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim of unutilised Cenvat credit in respect of export of services was filed within limitation, and whether the relevant date for computing the one-year period was the date of export/provision of services or the date of receipt of foreign exchange.

Analysis: The refund was rejected on the ground that the application was beyond one year from the date of export of services. The governing notification required refund applications for unutilised Cenvat credit to be filed within the prescribed time, and the dispute turned on the meaning of the relevant date. The Tribunal noted that in export of services the export is complete only upon receipt of foreign exchange in India, and the period of limitation for refund is to be counted from the date of receipt of payment in convertible foreign exchange. The later amendment to the notification was also consistent with that interpretation. Since the record showed that the refund claim was filed within one year from receipt of foreign exchange and this aspect was not disputed by the lower authorities, the rejection of refund could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The relevant date for limitation was the date of receipt of foreign exchange, not the date of provision or export of services, and the refund claim was within time.

Ratio Decidendi: For refund of unutilised Cenvat credit relating to export of services, limitation is computed from the date of receipt of consideration in convertible foreign exchange.

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