Provision of canteen and employee transportation facilities was...

Provision of canteen and employee transportation facilities was treated as activity in the course of business, with two separate supplies identified: service from the third-party provider to the employer, and outward supply from the employer to employees where amounts were recovered by salary deduction. The recovered portion was held to be consideration liable to GST, while only the employer-borne concession was treated as a perquisite. The employee transport arrangement was not accepted as exempt non-air-conditioned contract carriage under Notification No. 12/2017, since it was characterised as vehicle hiring with operator. Input tax credit was also denied because employee transportation was held to be used for personal consumption under section 17(5)(g).