The Supreme Court held that the acquiring bank should pay...

The Supreme Court held that the acquiring bank should pay service tax on the entire Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), which includes the interchange fee payable to the issuing bank, rather than separately taxing the interchange fee received by the issuing bank. The use of the conjunction 'and' in the relevant provision indicates the legislative intent to tax the MDR as a whole, without bifurcating it. Taxing the MDR at the first point of collection by the acquiring bank facilitates ease of tax collection and avoids revenue loss. The Revenue Department had all relevant data and could have ascertained the position before issuing show cause notices demanding separate taxation of the interchange fee. As the service tax on the entire MDR has already been paid, no separate tax is payable on the interchange fee component.