Commercial bottle coolers treated as non-domestic refrigerators qualify for concessional duty under the notification.

Bottle coolers cleared for commercial use were treated as refrigerators other than domestic refrigerators under Sl. No. 2 of Notification No. 252/83-C.E., so the concessional duty rate applied. The products were described as box-shaped cabinets used exclusively for cooling beverages and storing bottles, and that factual characterisation was not disputed. The earlier precedent relied on by the Revenue was confined to whether similar goods were domestic refrigerators and did not decide coverage under this notification entry. On that basis, the bottle coolers fell within the concessional notification and the Revenue's appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether bottle coolers cleared during the relevant period were covered by Sl. No. 2 of Notification No. 252/83-C.E. as refrigerators other than domestic refrigerators and therefore entitled to the concessional rate of duty.

Analysis: The relevant notification granted concessional duty to refrigerators other than domestic refrigerators of capacity not exceeding 165 litres. The bottle coolers were found to be used exclusively for commercial purposes for cooling beverages and similar products, and that finding was not disputed in the appeal. The respondents' description of the goods as storage refrigerators was not contested before the Tribunal, and the Tribunal accepted that the products were box-shaped cabinets used for storing large numbers of bottles. The earlier decision relied upon by the Revenue dealt only with whether similar goods were domestic refrigerators and did not consider the present question under Sl. No. 2.

Conclusion: The bottle coolers were covered by Sl. No. 2 of Notification No. 252/83-C.E. and the concessional rate of duty was available. The Revenue's appeal failed.

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