TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (12) TMI 835
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....8th June, 2017 (Entry No. 3 of Exemption Notification) as amended from time to time as the services are in the nature of pure labour services. 3. Whether the services provided by the applicant fall within the Government Works Contract Services on which GST rate was amended to 12% in the notification No. 20/2017. 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, 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 made by the applicant are as under:- 2.1 M/s. Work Group Sushikshit Berojgar Nagrik Sewa Sahkari Sanstha Maryadit Amravati (Applicant), is engaged in supply of manpower belonging to the economically weaker sections of society, for; cleaning of public washrooms and restrooms; collecting rent from hawkers who use the municipal corporation area for selling goods on streets; collecting vehicle parking fees ....
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....g, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation, or alteration of,- (a) road, bridge, tunnel, or terminal for road transportation for use by general public; (b) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to a scheme under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission or Rajiv Awaas Yojana; (c) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to the "In-situ rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through private participation" under the Housing for All (Urban) Mission/Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, only for existing slum dwellers; (d) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to the "Beneficiary led individual house construction / enhancement" under the Housing for All (Urban) Mission/Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: (e) a pollution control or effluent treatment plant, except located as a part of a factory; or (f) a structure meant for funeral, burial or cremation of deceased. 12% (v) Composite supply of works contract as defined in clause (119) of section 2 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, supplied by way of construction, er....
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....res for operation, maintenance and office work. 6. Labour contract work for printing of Energy Bills Applicant provides staff for printing of energy bills of consumers. 7. Contract for electricity installation in Staff Quarters Applicant provides labour, material for electrical installation in government staff quarters. Payment for the material used is as per the standard cost set by the authority and as laid down in the agreement. Applicant acts as the pure agent as far as the material is concerned. 8. Providing staff for cleaning Applicant provides staff for cleaning of various government premises like, Government Hospitals, Government Schools, etc. 9. Applicant provides manpower to Municipal Corporation for collecting parking fees from people who park their vehicles in the municipal corporation area. 10. Applicant provides manpower Municipal Corporation for collecting rent from hawkers who use the municipal corporation area for selling goods on streets. 2.5 Applicant states that it only provides staff to Government, to carry out work entrusted to it as per the 12th Schedule to Article 243W of the Indian C....
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....ipal corporation area. d. Providing the staff to Maharashtra State Electricity Board for meter reading. e. Providing the staff for printing of energy bills of consumers for urban as well as rural divisions. f. Providing manpower and material for set up of electricity connection in rural and urban areas. g. Providing manpower and material for set up of electricity connection in government quarters. h. Providing Line staff to Maharashtra State Electricity Board for operation and Maintenance purpose. 3.2 Services mentioned at (c) above, appear to be covered under 12th Schedule of Article 243W of the Constitution of India while other services listed at a,b,d,e,f,g,h listed above do not appear to be covered under 12th schedule of the said Article 243W. 3.3 Regarding the second question, the following three conditions should be satisfied: A) Services should be of pure services and it should not involve any supply of goods. B) It should be provided to the Central Government, State Government, Government Authority, and Government entity. C) It must be any activity in relation to any function entrusted to ....
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....equested for admission of the application. Jurisdictional Officer did not appear. 4.2 The application was admitted. Final hearing was held on 25.02.2020. Sh. Mayur Zanwar, C.A., appeared, made oral and written submissions. Jurisdictional Officer Sh. Ujval Deshmukh, State Tax Officer (AMR-VAT-C-001), Amravati appeared and requested for time to make submissions which was made later. We heard both the sides. 4.3 Further, online e-hearing was also held on 10.11.2020, which was attended by Shri Mayur Zanwar CA of the applicant and Shri. Prafulla Gawande. STO, Amravati, VAT-(C-001). Applicant has made submission. We heard both the sides. 05. DISCUSSIONS AND FINDINGS: 5.1 We have gone through the facts of the case and submission given by the both the sides. 5.2 Applicant feels that their activities are covered under functions entrusted to a Panchayat under Article 243G or to a Municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution and it would be covered under Sr. No 3, Chapter 99 of Exemption Notification No. 12/2017 of CT (Rate) dated 28.6.2017 or Notification No. 20/2017, in the Table,- (i) against serial number 3, for item (iii) in column (3) and the entries relating there....
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....itution (Seventy-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1992 is as under:- 1. Urban planning including town planning. 2. Planning of land- use and construction of buildings. 5.5.2 Article 243W of the Constitution, states the powers, authority and responsibility of Municipalities. It is seen that the Clause 1 of Article 243W is related to "Urban planning including town planning" and Clause 2 is related to "Planning of land- use and construction of buildings for municipalities". Urban planning, town planning and planning of land for use and construction of buildings for municipalities has a wider scope in respect to supply of services. It may consist of supply of different services which are not specifically incorporated therein. 5.5.3 In the subject case, as per the work orders submitted by the applicant we find that, for the services to fall under Article 243W of the Constitution, the said services should be supplied to Municipalities as and when outsourced to the applicant. Out of the three recipients mentioned by the applicant we find that only the Amravati Municipal Corporation, Amravati (AMC), is a municipality, established and set up as per the provisions of Article 24....
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.... or other composite supplies involving supply of any goods) provided to the Central Government, State Government or Union territory or local authority or a Governmental authority [or a Government Entity] by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under article 243G of the Constitution or in relation to any function entrusted to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution Nil 5.6.2 For any supply to be covered under Sr. No. 3 mentioned in 5.6.1 firstly, the supply should be in respect of only Pure Services, secondly such Pure Services must be provided to the Central Government, State Government or Union territory or local authority or a Governmental authority [or a Government Entity] and finally such services should be provided by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under article 243G of the Constitution or in relation to any function entrusted to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution. 5.6.3 The Municipal Corporation of Amravati can be considered as a Municipality. We will discuss whether MSEDCL and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran can be considered as a Governmental authority or a....
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....rvices by the applicant can be considered as any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under article 243G of the Constitution or in relation to any function entrusted to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution. Hence we shall discuss the supply of Pure Services rendered by the applicant as submitted by them. 5.6.7 The 12th Schedule to Article 243W of the Constitution enumerates the following activities: a) Urban planning including town planning. b) Regulation of land-use and construction of buildings. c) Planning for economic and social development: d) Roads and bridges, e) Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes. f) Public health, sanitation conservancy and solid waste management. g) Fire services. h) Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects. i) Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded. j) Slum improvement and up gradation. k) Urban poverty alleviation. l) Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as p....
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.... 19. Adult and non-formal education. 20. Libraries. 21. Cultural activities. 22. Markets and fairs. 23. Health and sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries. 24. Family welfare. 25. Women and child development. 26. Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded. 27. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. 28. Public distribution system. 29. Maintenance of community assets.] 5.6.9 One of the activities entrusted to a Panchayat is "Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity", mentioned at Sr. No. 14 of the 11th Schedule. We observe that the activity of Rural Electrification including distribution of electricity is carried out by MSEDCL in whole of Maharashtra. It is therefore seen that MSEDCL would definitely be involved in Rural electrification and distribution of electricity therein. However it is seen that the State of Maharashtra also comprises of cities like Mumbai, Nashik, Nagpur, Pune, etc., which are not considered as Rural areas. From a pe....
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...., watershed development and drinking water are covered under 11^th Schedule to Article 243G of the Constitution. Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes is covered under the 12th Schedule to Article 243W of the Constitution. 5.6.12 The activities mentioned in 5.6.11 above, are covered under the activities undertaken by Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran which includes Planning, designing and implementation of water supply, taking over any water supply for operation and maintenance, To establish service level bench marks for water supply, To extend relevant support, regarding water sector, to Government of Maharashtra as well as Local Self Governments and to support Government of Maharashtra to prepare Annual Plan and to establish / modify tariff / tax / cess structure in water sector. The applicant is providing Manpower for taking photo meter reading, attending water complaints, water bill printing. These activities cannot be considered as activities in relation to water management, watershed development and drinking water and therefore the applicant is not eligible for exemption under Entry No. 3 of Exemption Notification No. 12/2017 dated 28th June, 2017. ....
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....o use the municipal corporation area for selling the stuff on street respectively. All other supplies mentioned under the head 'Scope of Work' relates to services rendered to MSEDCL. Also, as per the table of supply provided by them in their submissions, they have at Sr. no. 8 of the table, mentioned that they are providing to the Amravati Municipal Corporation, staff for cleaning. They have not mentioned whether it is staff provided for cleaning of public washrooms/restrooms. Hence a perusal of their submissions in its entirety do not reveal that such services of providing staff for cleaning of public washrooms/restrooms are supplied to Amravati Municipal Corporation. We are of the opinion that providing manpower for cleaning of public washrooms and restrooms, if provided Municipal Corporations, will be covered under Public health, sanitation conservancy and solid waste management /Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences since these functions are entrusted to the Municipalities under Article 243 W of the Constitution. Since it is not forthcoming from the applicant's submissions that, they are providing such services o....
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.... clause (119) of section 2 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, supplied by way of construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation, or alteration of,- (a) a road, bridge, tunnel, or terminal for road transportation for use by general public; (b) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to a scheme under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission or Rajiv Awaas Yojana; (c) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to the "In-situ rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through private participation" under the Housing for All (Urban) Mission/Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, only for existing slum dwellers; (d) a civil structure or any other original works pertaining to the "Beneficiary led individual house construction / enhancement" under the Housing for All (Urban) Mission/Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; (e) a pollution control or effluent treatment plant, except located as a part of a factory; or (f) a structure meant for funeral, burial or cremation of deceased 6 (v) Composite supply of....
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..... In the subject case as seen from their submissions in respect of the supply carried out by the applicant, there is no "works contract" since there is no contract for building, construction, fabrication, completion, erection, installation, fitting out, improvement, modification, repair, maintenance, renovation, alteration or commissioning of any immovable property wherein transfer of property in goods (whether as goods or in some other form) is involved in the execution of such contract. Therefore the question of availing the reduced rate of 12% GST does not arise at all. 5.8 Applicant has relied upon the Advance Ruling Judgment in case of M/s. Sewerage & Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa. Ltd. In the said case, the applicant i.e. M/s Sewerage & Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa. Ltd. has been held to be a Government Entity, which has been appointed as the State-level nodal agency to take up the sewerage projects and it was held that the applicant is a Government Entity and the services provided by the applicant apparently fell in the list of services enumerated under Sr No 6 of the 12th Schedule of Article 243W of the Constitution. In the subject case....