Service tax exemption for specified insurance schemes and local public telephone services under a finance act notification applies to listed services.
Exempts specified taxable services from service tax under the Finance Act, 1994, including listed insurance schemes (personal accident, crop, cattle, tribal, group and small premium policies, export insurance) and certain public telephone services (departmental public telephones for local calls, guaranteed public telephones for local calls, and free telephones at airports and hospitals where no bills are issued); the notification commenced on 1 July 1994 and later amendments omitted certain entries and the notification was subsequently rescinded.

Service tax compliance: mandatory registration, deposit and quarterly reconciliation with assessment and appeal procedures under prescribed forms.
Service tax administration requires registration of persons responsible for collecting service tax with a designated Central Excise Officer, maintenance of records, monthly deposit of tax collected to a designated bank and quarterly submission of prescribed returns reconciling provisional deposits and actual collections. Central Excise Officers assess tax and interest on returns, may call for additional documents, adjust payments against assessed liabilities with deficiencies payable and excess refundable, and appeals are governed by prescribed forms, copy requirements and filing procedures to Collector (Appeals) and the Appellate Tribunal.

Service tax commencement: Chapter V of the Finance Act made operative, triggering service tax levy from the appointed commencement date.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Finance Act, 1994, appoints a commencement date for Chapter V by notification, thereby making the Chapter's provisions operative and rendering the statutory levy of service tax effective from that appointed date.