AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (2) TMI 824
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....UPRVUNL). The said project is composed of the following four separate contracts: Contract 1: Supply of plant and equipment from abroad Contract 2: Supply of domestically manufactured plant and equipment. Under the contract there are two categories of supplies - a) Supply of goods manufactured by the Claimant (hereinafter referred to as 'Contract 2 -Direct Transactions') b) Supply of goods directly from sub-contractor's premises (hereinafter referred to as 'Contract 2 - Bought Out Items') Contract 3: Supply of services including inland transportation, inland transit insurance, installation, testing & commissioning, guarantee test and other incidental services(hereinafter referred to as 'Contract 3 - Transportation, Installation and Testing Services' or 'Contract 3') Contract 4: Supply of civil & structural works and all other related installation services(hereinafter referred to as 'Contract 4 - Civil Works' or 'Contract 4') (2) The above-mentioned contracts were awarded to the applicant in response to a single tender notification, and the general terms and conditions are c....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....rson who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues consignment note, by whatever name called" (8.4) The term consignment note has not been defined under the GST law. Guidance in this regard can be taken from the meaning prescribed to the term in the erstwhile Service tax regime. As per Explanation to rule 4B of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 "For the purposes of this rule and the second proviso to rule 4A, "consignment note" means a document, issued by a goods transport agency against the receipt of goods for the purpose of transport of goods by road in a goods carriage, which is serially numbered, and contains the name of the consignor and consignee, registration number of the goods carriage in which the goods are transported, details of the goods transported, details of the place of origin and destination, person liable for paying service tax whether consignor, consignee or the goods transport agency." (8.5) on the basis of above, it is submitted that the term GTA includes in its ambit only those service providers who provide services of transport of goods by road, and who issue a document against the receipt of goods for the pu....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ds cannot be treated as a consignment note. (8.7) as per the 'Carriage by Road Act, 2007' a common carrier is a person who carries out the specified activities under a goods receipt. Only such persons are required to undertake registration under the said act, and only such persons may engage in the activities of a goods carrier. Under the said act, issuance of a document specifying the liability of the person transporting the goods (or of the person having the physical possession of the goods) with respect to the goods being transported by such transporting person is sine qua-non for such person to be considered as a goods carrier (8.8) It is submitted that such provisions of 'Carriage by Road Act' are similar in nature and in requirement to the provisions of the GST law and the erstwhile Service tax law. Thus, the term "goods carrier" can be treated as analogous to the term "GTA" and "goods receipt" to "consignment note". On the basis of this, it is submitted that if a person does not issue a document such as a goods receipt or a consignment note to declare his liability with respect to the goods being transported then he would not qualify as a go....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....bmissions made in the application of advance ruling and submitted a Paper Book containing relevant details. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS- 7. At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of both the CGST Act and the UPGST Act are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the CGST Act would also mean a reference to the same provision under the UPGST Act. Further to the earlier, henceforth for the purposes of this Advance Ruling, a reference to such a similar provision under the CGST Act / UPGST Act would be mentioned as being under the `CGST Act'. 8. We have gone through the Form GST ARA-01 filed by the applicant and observed that the applicant has ticked following issues on which advance ruling required- (v) Determination of the liability to pay tax on any goods or services or both At the outset, we find that the issue raised in the application is squarely covered under Section 97(2) of the CGST Act 2017. We therefore, admit the application for consideration on merits. 9. We have gone through the submissions made by the applicant and have examined the....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....rvices provided by them to M/s UPRVUNL is exempted as per entry no. 18 of Notification No. 12/2017-CT(rate) dated 28.06.2017. 13. The arguments of the applicant regarding exemption on the transportation service is in fact based on the assumption that the supply of service is in total isolation from the whole contract and without considering the terms and obligations created under all the contracts of supply of goods and services under erection, procurement and commissioning (EPC) package for 1x660 MW Harduaganj TPS Extn-II thermal power station by M/s UPRVUNL. As such, the applicant is isolating transportation services not only from other services (i.e. installation services and training charges) envisaged under third contract but also isolating it from whole contract of supply of goods and services allotted to the applicant. Hence most important issue to be examined by us is to verify whether the transportation services and other services provided by the appellant are altogether separate contract independent of any obligation cast on the applicant under the whole contract or not. 14. We find that the Contract - 3 was awarded to the applicant vide Notification of Award (NOA) ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ontract' and recover damages thereunder , shall give us an absolute right to terminate the Contract and/or recover damages under this 'Third Contract' as well and vice-versa. However, such breach of default or occurrence in the 'First Contract' and/or 'Second Contract' and/or 'Fourth Contract' shall not automatically relieve you of any of your responsibilities/obligations under this 'Third Contract'. It is also expressly understood and agreed by you that the equipments/materials to be supplied by you under the 'First Contract and 'Second Contract' and civil and structural works under 'Fourth Contract', when installed and commissioned under this 'Third Contract' shall give satisfactory performance in accordance with the provisions of the contract. D. The total contract price for the entire scope of work under this Contract shall be INR 3,729,877,295.00 (inclusive of all taxes and duties) as per the following breakup: SL.No. Particulars Price in INR (inclusive of all taxes and duties) 1 Local Transportation including Port Handling, Port Clearance and Port Charges, Inland Transit Insurance ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....VNL has not entered into contract of ex - factory supply of material, but for the supply at site alongwith design, engineering, manufacturing, shop fabrication, assembly, inspection, testing, forwarding to site of all equipments, erection, commissioning, handling, storage etc for EPC package for Harduaganj thermal Power Extension-II. 17. The 'cross fall breach clause', settles unambiguously that supply of goods, their transportation to the contractee's site and related services of insurance, unloading and handling at site, installation including civil work, testing etc. are not separate contracts, but only form parts of an indivisible composite supply of goods and services with single source responsibility. Thus, from the above it is seen that the supply of the goods and the supply of services are inextricably linked with each other. The contract awarded in substance and essence is a composite contract as defined in section 2(30) of the C.G.S.T. Act, 2017 for supply of goods and services. 18. The term 'composite supply' is defined under clause 30 of Section 2 of the CGST Act, 2017 as under- "composite supply" means a supply made by a taxable perso....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....s involved in the execution of such contract; 21. It is seen from the definition that works contract involves activities of 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. However, these activities should be in respect of immovable property. In order to decide whether the transaction is a works contract, it is for us to decide whether it is in respect of immovable property. The term 'immovable property' has not been defined under the GST Act. As per Section 3 (26) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, immovable property includes "land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth". From the said definition, it is clear that anything which become the integral part (i.e., coming within the civil structure) of anything attached to the earth is termed as immovable property. 22.1 We find that Contract 4 (bearing Ref. No. PPMM/S....