2019 (7) TMI 1107
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....ce then whether it will be considered as administrative service or specific service. At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of both the CGST Act and the MGST Act are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to any dissimilar provisions, a reference to the CGST Act would also mean a reference to the same provision under the MGST Act. Further to the earlier, henceforth for the purposes of this Advance Ruling, the expression 'GST Act' would mean CGST Act and MGST Act. 2. FACTS AND CONTENTION - AS PER THE APPLICANT The submissions, as reproduced verbatim, could be seen thus- "Brief Facts of Case The Applicant, M/s. Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, a Municipal Corporation is formed & governed by Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949. There is no special statute for formation of any Municipal Corporation. The Corporation is headed by an IAS cadre person deputed by Govt. of Maharashtra. It caters to the civic services to the residents of city which are specified by Clause 243 W of Constitution of India, such as activity in relation to any function ordinarily entrusted to a municipality ....
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....f law in respect of the aforesaid questions 1. Online tendering should be considered as Supply of Service 2. Offline tendering should be considered as Supply of Goods 3. HSN 4911 rate should be 12% 4. Rate of Service should be 18% if Administrative Service or Nil 18% if specific service 5. Tendering is specific service 03. CONTENTION - AS PER THE CONCERNED OFFICER The submission, as reproduced verbatim, could be seen thus- "Opinion of this office:- 1) Online tendering - The Navi Mumbai Muncipal Corporation procured online tenders on website of municipal corporation. All the process is done online. This online activity will covered under supply of services. GST applicable 18%. 2) Offline tendering - The Navi Mumbai Muncipal Corporation sold tender forms thereafter all the process related to the tendering (applicable /payment of fees) along with copies submission of technical and financial bid by manually. In this case sales of manual tender form is supply of goods. And tender fees while submission of tender is a supply of services. Applicable GST 18%. 3. Tariff head of online tendering - Residual ....
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....ore efficient as paper-based transactions are reduced or eliminated, facilitating for a more speedy exchange of information. In common parlance also it is understood to be a process to procure goods or services where the entire process is online. 5.4 As per Section 2(12) of the CGST Act, 2017, "services'; means anything other than goods, money and securities but includes activities relating to the use of money or its conversion by cash or by any other mode, from one form, currency or denomination, to another form, currency or denomination for which a separate consideration is charged. 5.5 From the above it is clear that Online Tendering does not satisfy the definition of 'goods'. The definition of 'services' as mentioned in the Business Dictionary: "Intangible products such as accounting, banking, cleaning, consultancy, education, insurance, expertise, medical treatment, or transportation. Sometimes services are difficult to identify because they are closely associated with a good; such as the combination of a diagnosis with the administration of a medicine. No transfer of possession or ownership takes place when services are sold, and they (1) cannot be stored or transported....
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....ncial bid, etc) along with submission copies of technical & financial bid will be done by manually at office of NMMC by way of submission of hard copies. We find that the difference between online and offline tendering is only that in the case of the former, the tender forms are sold on line and in the case of the latter, the tender forms are sold as printed matter. NMMC is not involved in the business of buying or selling tender forms and the sale of tender forms does not appear to be incidental or ancillary to their business. In offline tendering too, there are intangible products such as application, payment of fees, submission of technical & financial bid, etc. These services are difficult to be identified individually. In both cases NMMC by floating the tender not only sells the form but collects them from the applicant and processes them and finally after the entire process of documentation, verification of the applicant's position to perform the contract, proceeds to give the tender to a particular person to the exclusion of others. In the process they also collect processing fees and other deposits from the various persons who are willing to fulfill their requirement for....
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