As per Section 2(z) of SEZ Act, 2005

"services" means such tradable services which,-

(i) are covered under the General Agreement on Trade in Services annexed as IB to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation concluded at Marrakes on the 15th day of April, 1994;

(ii) may be prescribed by the Central Government for the purposes of this Act; and

(iii) earn foreign exchange;

Further, as per rule 76 of the SEZ Rules, 2006, the term "services" have been defined for the purpose of section 2(z) as:

Trading,

warehousing,

research and development services,

computer software services, including information enabled services such as back-office operations, call centers, content development or animation, data processing, engineering and design,

graphic information system services,

human resources services,

insurance claim processing,

legal data bases,

medical transcription,

payroll,

remote maintenance,

revenue accounting,

support centers and web-site services,

off-shore banking services,

professional services (excluding legal services and accounting)

rental/leasing services without operators,

other business services,

courier services,

audio-visual services,

construction and related services,

distribution services (excluding retail services),

educational services,

environmental services,

financial services,

hospital services,

other human health services,

tourism and travel related services,

recreational, cultural and sporting services,

entertainment services,

transport services,

services auxiliary to all modes of transport,

pipelines transport.

 

Services definition under SEZ clarifies tradable services scope, WTO coverage, prescription and foreign exchange requirement. The term services under the SEZ regime requires that services be tradable, fall within GATS coverage or be prescribed by the Central Government, and earn foreign exchange; rule level guidance then provides an illustrative catalogue including information enabled services, engineering and design, human resources, financial and transport services, offshore banking, professional and business services, health, education, construction, distribution, tourism, and related auxiliary services.