University's advance ruling application for GST on affiliation charges rejected due to pending identical proceedings under Section 98(2)

The AAR Rajasthan rejected an advance ruling application regarding GST levy on affiliation charges collected by a government university from affiliated colleges. The application was deemed non-maintainable under Section 98(2) of CGST Act, 2017, as the same issue was already pending before the adjudicating authority of CGST, Udaipur. The AAR held that duplicate proceedings on identical matters are not permissible, resulting in rejection of the advance ruling request without examining the substantive GST liability question.

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Issues:
Whether GST is applicable on Affiliation Charges collected from the Affiliated Colleges by a Government University.

Analysis:
The applicant, a government university, sought an advance ruling on the applicability of GST on affiliation charges collected from affiliated colleges. The university argued that since it is government-sponsored and exempt from income tax, its services should also be exempt from GST. The university collects affiliation fees approved by the state government and provides educational services. The jurisdictional officer opined that the exemption under Notification No.12/2017-GST applies only to services provided to students, faculty, and staff, not to services provided to affiliated colleges. The officer concluded that GST is applicable on affiliation fees collected by the university.

The Advance Ruling Authority considered the facts, documents, submissions, and the jurisdictional officer's comments. It noted that the university had a pending issue with the CGST authority regarding the taxability of affiliation fees for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22. Referring to Section 98(2) of the CGST Act, the Authority found that the question raised by the applicant was already pending before the CGST adjudicating authority, making the application for advance ruling not maintainable. Therefore, the Authority rejected the application under Section 98(2) of the CGST & RGST Act, 2017.

In conclusion, the Advance Ruling Authority ruled that the application for advance ruling by the applicant was not maintainable and was rejected under Section 98(2) of the CGST & RGST Act, 2017. The ruling remains valid unless declared void under Section 104(1) of the GST Act. The applicant was advised that an appeal against this ruling could be made to the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling within 30 days from the date of the order.

This judgment clarifies the scope of GST applicability on affiliation charges collected by a government university from affiliated colleges. It emphasizes the importance of jurisdictional issues and pending matters in determining the maintainability of an advance ruling application.

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