2007 (9) TMI 577

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....bscribers are not exigible to commercial tax has been turned down. Though the appeals are for different years, since they have been disposed of by a common order, annexure A-8, passed by the Board, they are being disposed of by this common order. The learned counsel for the appellant does not dispute that during the period pertaining to the assessment year 1998-99 and 1999-2000, the appellant had floated a scheme for rendering telecom service to the subscribers in which handsets were made available to the subscribers on non-returnable basis along with the SIM cards. The Department levied tax on the value of the handset and also the value of the SIM cards which substituted the original SIM cards on account of damage, etc., for which extra....

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....meaningless unless the receivers are available with the subscribers. The fact that the company did not insist the subscribers to purchase a receiver from outside and use its SIM card and proposed to supply the receiver along with the SIM card clearly indicates the intention of the company to pass on to the customer the cellular phone as part of the deal which constituted sale. It cannot be denied that the cellular phone had a market value and it was supplied to the customer, apparently not free of charge but for charge which constituted part of the package. In Anand Commercial Agencies [1997] 107 STC 586 the apex court considered a situation where bottles were supplied free of charge on understanding that they would be returned to the "deal....