Despatch money received under FOB export contracts for...

Despatch money received under FOB export contracts for completing cargo loading before stipulated laytime was treated as a contractual incentive or commercial adjustment, not consideration for port services. Taxable value requires a direct nexus between an amount and a service rendered to another person. As loading was incidental to the export sale contract and there was no separate quick-loading service agreement or privity with the vessel owner, the despatch amount was not liable to service tax. The related service-tax demands were set aside, and consequential interest and penalties could not survive.