Manual refund procedure under GST extended until online refund module becomes available, covering pending claims only.
Manual refund procedures under the Uttar Pradesh GST framework were continued pending availability of the online refund module on the GSTN portal. The circular extends the manual refund system up to 31.12.2019 for refund claims relating to zero-rated supplies, inverted duty structure, deemed exports, and excess ITC in the electronic cash ledger. The extended arrangement is limited to pending refund applications received up to 26.09.2019 and was circulated for compliance by zonal and treasury officers.

GST classification clarifications: specific goods like leguminous vegetables, almond milk, sprayers and medical parts receive defined tariff treatment.
Dried leguminous vegetables subjected only to mild heat treatment remain classifiable under HS Code 0713 and may be exempt or attract concessional GST when branded and packed; almond milk is not fruit juice and falls under the residual tariff entry attracting the standard rate for that entry. Mechanical sprayers of all types are covered by the concessional schedule entry. Imported stores for Indian naval ships are exempt from GST. Imports under lease supplying services covered by supply-of-service provisions are IGST-exempt subject to bond conditions. Parts for solar water heaters and parts solely for medical devices attract concessional rates applicable to those devices.

Petroleum exploration support services follow central GST clarification for uniform administration by state tax field officers.
Support services for exploration, mining or drilling of petroleum crude or natural gas are governed by a central clarification intended to ensure uniform GST implementation. State tax field officers are instructed to follow that clarification while administering the Tripura State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, under the statutory power to secure uniformity in implementation.

GST treatment of liquor licence fees clarified: State grants of liquor licences are treated as not constituting a supply under GST.
Services by State Governments granting alcoholic liquor licences for licence or application fees are treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of service under a State notification implementing GST Council recommendations; this special dispensation is limited to State grants of liquor licences and does not apply to other licences or privileges where GST continues to be payable.

Effective date of explanation under section 11(3): clarifies retroactive application to the inception of the concessional entry.
The explanation excluding Government and Local Authority activities from the term 'business' at entry 3(vi) of notification No. 11/2017 STR is effective from the inception of that entry (21.09.2017) because it was inserted under the statutory power to add explanations within one year, and the later-stated operative date in the subsequent notification does not affect this retrospective operation.

Securities lending: lending fees are taxable under GST; borrower liable under reverse charge mechanism with IGST applicable.
The lending fee charged by a lender under the Securities Lending Scheme, 1997 constitutes consideration for a taxable supply of service and has been subject to GST since 01.07.2017; intermediaries' facilitation services are also taxable. The supply is classifiable under heading 997119 at 18% GST. For 01.07.2017-30.09.2019 the lender bears IGST liability (subject to credit for any CGST/SGST/UTGST already paid); with effect from 1 October 2019 the borrower is liable to pay IGST under the reverse charge mechanism.

Place of supply: software and chip design tested on recipient provided prototype hardware is where the service recipient is located.
When testing on recipient provided prototype hardware is an ancillary activity to a composite supply of software and chip design, the place of supply for the composite service is the location of the service recipient; the separate rule for goods made physically available by the recipient does not apply independently to determine place of supply for such ancillary testing.

GST exemption for maritime training applies where DG approved courses form a curriculum leading to a recognised qualification.
Services supplied by Maritime Training Institutes conducting Director General of Shipping approved maritime courses qualify as educational institution services eligible for GST exemption under the State Tax notification, provided the education is part of a curriculum for obtaining a recognised qualification and the conditions of the notification are met; this follows from the Merchant Shipping Act and the STCW Rules empowering DG Shipping to approve courses, assessment programmes and institutes.

GST on donor acknowledgements: nameplates as mere gratitude are not taxable where no advertising or quid pro quo exists.
Where a charitable organisation places a donor's name or nameplate in its premises solely as an expression of gratitude and public recognition, without advertising the donor's business and without any quid pro quo obligation by the recipient, that acknowledgement is not a supply for consideration and is not liable to GST; examples include goodwill inscriptions or memorial attributions on donated items or constructed parts of an institution.

GST on airport levies: PSF and UDF are taxable; airlines may collect as pure agents while airport operators remain GST liable.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators constitute consideration for airport services and are taxable under GST. Airlines that collect these charges act as agents; where they meet Rule 33 criteria and separately show the amounts and GST, the recovered PSF/UDF (and GST thereon) are excluded from the airline's taxable value and the airline cannot claim ITC. Airport operators are liable to pay GST on PSF/UDF; airlines must pay GST on collection charges received from airport operators, with ITC available to the airport operators.

Scope of support services to oil and gas extraction clarified to align classification with service code explanatory notes.
Clarification aligns classification of services related to exploration, mining or drilling of petroleum crude and natural gas with the Scheme of Classification of Services: operational extraction activities are governed by the explanatory notes for support services to extraction, while technical, consulting and exploration evaluation activities are governed by the explanatory notes for geological, geophysical and mineral exploration services; services outside those entries must be classified under their respective headings and taxed accordingly.

Inclusion of cesses in Brand Rate of duty drawback clarified; specified cesses included, stowage excise excluded.
Clarifies inclusion and exclusion of specific levies in the Brand Rate of duty drawback: Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge and Clean Environment cess are to be factored into Brand Rate calculations because they operate as duties of Customs/Excise and are subject to Customs/Central Excise provisions and Drawback Committee treatment; Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act is not covered by Customs/Central Excise refund or drawback provisions and must not be included.

First time exporter verification accepted from any Mumbai port clearance as proof of first time export status.
Public Notice permits submission of clearance verification (LEO/OOC) from any port within the Mumbai Customs Zones as acceptable proof of first time exporter status for exports via the Air Cargo Complex (Export) Commissionerate and applies earlier related public notices mutatis mutandis; implementation issues should be reported to the Additional/Joint Commissioner of Customs (Export), ACC Sahar, Mumbai.

GST treatment of liquor licence fees clarified: state grants are not treated as a supply, limited to state-issued liquor licences.
GST liability on fees for State grants of alcoholic liquor licences was initially taxable under the reverse charge mechanism; the GST Council and subsequent legislative and administrative measures exempted transitional-period fees and directed treating State grants of alcoholic liquor licences as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of service, with the clarification that this treatment applies only to State-issued alcoholic liquor licences and not to other licence fees.

Retrospective effect of explanation under statute affirmed; explanation treated as part of original notification from inception.
Clarification that an explanation inserted by Notification (17/2018) is effective from the inception of the concessional-rate entry at Sl. No. 3(vi) of Notification (11/2017); the statutory power to insert an explanation within one year makes it operative as if part of the original notification from its inception, and a later stated commencement date in the amending notification does not alter that retrospective operation.

Lending of securities taxable; lender paid IGST earlier; borrower liable under reverse charge (IGST) from Oct 1, 2019.
The temporary lending of securities does not constitute disposal of securities, but the lending fee charged by the lender is consideration for a taxable service and attracts GST at 18%. Intermediaries' facilitation services are separately taxable. For 01.07.2017-30.09.2019 GST was payable by lenders under forward charge (IGST), with credit for CGST/SGST/UTGST already paid; from 01.10.2019 the borrower is liable to pay GST under the reverse charge mechanism (IGST).

Place of supply: ancillary prototype testing treated as recipient-location supply under IGST place-of-supply rules.
When testing on recipient-provided prototype hardware is ancillary to the principal design/software supply in a composite contract, the place of supply is the location of the service recipient under the IGST place-of-supply rule for services supplied to non-taxable territory recipients; the provision regarding goods made physically available does not apply separately to ancillary testing.

GST exemption for maritime training confirmed for DG Shipping approved courses when part of a recognised qualification curriculum.
Services provided by Maritime Training Institutes to their students, faculty and staff qualify for exemption under the Notification for educational institutions where education is provided as part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by law; MTIs and their courses approved by the Director General of Shipping under the Merchant Shipping Act and the STCW Rules meet this definition and are exempt from GST subject to the conditions at Sl. No. 66 of Notification (12/2017).

GST on donor nameplates: acknowledgements without commercial advertising are not taxable when donation is philanthropic and no quid pro quo.
Display of a donor's name or placement of nameplates by charitable organisations does not attract GST where the acknowledgement is a mere expression of gratitude and not intended as advertising, there is no obligation to supply any service in return, and the payment retains the character of a gift made for philanthropic purposes without commercial gain.

Airport levies as taxable consideration: airlines collecting PSF/UDF may exclude amounts if acting as pure agents under GST rules.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators constitute consideration for services to passengers and are subject to GST; airlines that collect these charges act as agents and may exclude them from their supply value only if they meet Rule 33 pure agent conditions, must separately indicate such charges and not take ITC on GST thereon, while airport operators remain liable to pay GST on PSF and UDF and may claim ITC for GST on collection charges paid to airlines.