A registered dealer receiving inward transportation services from a local transporter who does not issue a consignment note and only provides a bill or cash memo is not considered to be availing services from a GTA (Goods Transport Agency) under GST. Since the definition of a GTA specifically requires the issuance of a consignment note, the transporter in this case would not fall under that category. As such, reverse charge mechanism (RCM) under GST is not applicable, because RCM in the context of transportation applies only to services provided by a GTA to certain specified recipients. Moreover, even though the transporter is unregistered, there is no RCM liability on the recipient unless they fall under a specifically notified class of persons under Section 9(4), which currently does not apply to regular registered businesses.
Additionally, these transportation charges do not qualify as a composite supply. For a supply to be considered composite, it must consist of two or more supplies naturally bundled together and provided by the same supplier in conjunction with each other, where one is a principal supply. In this scenario, the transportation service is not bundled with the supply of goods—it is billed separately by a third-party transporter and not by the supplier of the goods. Therefore, the transportation service is an independent supply and should be treated as such for GST purposes.