TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (5) TMI 832
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....ennai Zonal Unit (DGGI), it was found that the appellants were rendering the services of ship crew management services to their associated enterprise Executive Ship Management Pte Ltd., Singapore (ESM) by claiming the same as export of services. In turn, ESM were providing ship crew recruitment and ship management services to various vessel owners based in Singapore and Malaysia, through one another entity Executive Shipping Services Pte Ltd., Singapore (ESS). The services provided by the appellants included selecting, contracting and managing the crew, ensuring medical screening of selected crew and providing them additional training etc. The appellants were being paid fees, on a monthly basis, for an amount equal to costs incurred by them in connection with providing the services agreed upon with ESM, plus 6.50% along with applicable taxes, if any. The appellants assessee were not paying service tax on the fees received for services rendered to ESM situated in Singapore, where payment is received in foreign currency, claiming it as export of service. 2.2 On Completion of the investigation, DGGI concluded that ESS has been appointed as 'Manager' for ship management and cr....
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....f the Place of Provision of Service Rules, 2012 (POPS) read with Sections 65B(44) and 66B of the Finance Act, 1994. 3.2 Further, Learned Advocate also stated that the appellants have regularly filed periodical ST-3 returns and they have given proper disclosure of the turnover and other declarations to the Department. Thus, he claimed that in the absence of any wilful mis-statement or suppression of facts on the part of the appellants and as the issue involved herein is of interpretation of legal provisions, extended period of limitation cannot be invoked for demanding service tax. Thus, he claimed that the impugned order cannot be sustained on the grounds of limitation. 3.3. Learned Advocate also submitted that the issue involved in the present case is no longer under dispute, as the Tribunal have held that the services of providing manpower to overseas client under an agreement are not intermediary services and there is no liability to pay of service tax,in the case of Seaspan Crew Management India Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Commissioner of CGST, Mumbai East- 2019 (5) TMI 1813 CESTAT MUMBAI, having similar set of facts. 3.4 In support of their stand, learned Advocate had a....
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.... claim that ESM India was only rendering services to ESM Pte. Singapore and there was no third party involved in the agreement is not correct. Further, upon going through the Appendix-I of the service agreement dated 01.04.2016, between the noticee and the ESM Pte. Singapore, I find that the clause 12 of the said agreement states as under:.... From the above, it is clear that as per the agreement, the scope of duty/responsibility of the noticee spanned not only upto the provision of recruitment/mining services to ESM Pte. Singapore, but to the level of keeping ESM Pte. informed about any demands, claims of legal actions brought by the records (hired under the agreement) against the clients of ESM Pte. or the Vessels. This again shows that the noticee's claim that ESM India was only rendering services to ESM Pte. Singapore and there was no third party involved in the agreement is not correct, since the services provided by the noticee are clearly involved in this vessels/clients of ESM Pte./ third parties. 4.3.6 ... In view of the factual position discussed above, I find that the noticee facilitated the provision of services of ESM Pte. Singapore to the clients/ves....
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....ther these services would tantamount to 'export of service' or not, for arriving at a decision as to the place of provision of service in terms of the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012? 8. Revenue has claimed that the service tax is liable to be paid by the appellants, treating the service as 'intermediary service' for which a specific provision has been made to treat the place of service provider as the place of supply of service, through it was provided to ESM Pte. Singapore, in terms of specific Rule 9(c) Place of Provision of Service Rules, 2012. On the other hand, the appellants have claimed that they are not required to pay service tax on 'ship crew recruitment fees', since all the services have been exported to ESM Pte. Singapore and the payment have been received in convertible foreign exchange, treating this as export of services on which no service tax is liable to be paid. The disputed period of the transactions is from 01.10.2014 to 30.06.2017. 9.1 In order to address the above issue, we would like to refer the relevant legal provisions contained in Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, Service Tax Rules, 1994 and the Place of Provision of Service Rul....
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....d after Finance Act, 2012.- There shall be levied a tax (hereinafter referred to as the service tax) at the rate of fourteen percent. on the value of all services, other than those services specified in the negative list, provided or agreed to be provided in the taxable territory by one person to another and collected in such manner as may be prescribed. SECTION 66C. Determination of place of provision of service.- (1) The Central Government may, having regard to the nature and description of variousservices, by rules made in this regard, determine the place where such services are provided ordeemed to have been provided or agreed to be provided or deemed to have been agreed to beprovided. (2) Any rule made under sub-section (1) shall not be invalid merely on the ground that eitherthe service provider or the service receiver or both are located at a place being outside the taxableterritory. 78. Penalty for suppressing, etc., of value of taxable services.- (1) Where any service tax has not been levied or paid or has been short-levied or short-paid or erroneously refunded, by reason of- (a) fraud; or (b) collusion; or ....
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....le that occurs later among the rules that merit equal consideration." SERVICE TAX RULES, 1994 "Export of services. Rule 6A. (1) The provision of any service provided or agreed to be provided shall be treated as export of service when,- (a) the provider of service is located in the taxable territory, (b) the recipient of service is located outside India, (c) the service is not a service specified in section 66D of the Act, (d) the place of provision of the service is outside India, (e) the payment for such service has been received by the provider of service in convertible foreign exchange, and (f) the provider of service and recipient of service are not merely establishments of a distinct person in accordance with item (b) of Explanation 3 of clause (44) of section 65B of the Act. (2) Where any service is exported, the Central Government may, by notification, grant rebate of service tax or duty paid on input services or inputs, as the case may be, used in providing such service and the rebate shall be allowed subject to such safeguards, conditions and limitations, as may be specified, by the C....
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....n of service in general has been specified under Rule 3 ibid as the place of recipient of service; and in specific situations such as place of provision of performance-based services, provision of services relating to immovable property, provision of services relating to events, services provided at more than one location, services where provider and recipient are located in the taxable territory, provision of certain specified services have been specifically categorized and the place of provision in such cases have been given in the respective Rules 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 ibid respectively. As regards the place of provision for goods transportation services, other than by way of mail or courier, it is specifically stated as the 'place of destination of the goods' under Rule 10 ibid. Considering the above legal provisions, in the present case, we find that since the services are provided in respect of ship crew management by the appellants situated in India, and that the service receiver is situated at Singapore, which is out of 'taxable territory', the services provided by the appellant cannot be covered under the service tax net. However, since the Department has claimed that the na....
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....nsure that every Recruit holds valid, genuine certificates in accordance with the requirements of STCW '95, the Vessel's flag state regulations, USCG special requirements and ESM Pte's special requirements for the relevant rank and appointment, as applicable from time to time, and to correct or arrange for correction of any deficiencies. 4. To engage, for employment as officers, only persons approved by ESM Pte. 5. To ensure that all Recruits enter into the employment contracts (ESM Pte.'s standard form from time to time) with ESM Pte. 6. To arrange for pre-employment physical and medical examinations of the Recruits in accordance with the World Health Organisation/Flag/ ESM Pte's requirements including drug and alcohol tests. 7. To arrange full pre-departure briefing seminars for Recruits of their terms and conditions of employment, duties, and of ESM Pte's policies, and to keep a written record of this. 8. To instruct Recruits to obey all lawful orders of ESM Pte. or any other nominated by ESM Pte. including orders in connection with safety and navigation, avoidance of pollution and protection of the environment, and to keep a written ....
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....ritime industry. The other important international conventions that are required to be complied with by the shipping industry are International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution (MARPOL) covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships due to either operational or accidental causes; International Convention and Code on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers (STCW), International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution prevention (ISM Code). For the purpose of the present case, the relevant international convention is International Convention and Code on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers (STCW), which enables ensuring compliance with various legal requirements of international maritime law, by adopting the standard agreements. BIMCO in their efforts to complement the global regulatory regime developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have created standard contracts and clauses that address the commercial and practical implications of global regulations that allocate obligations, responsibilities and liabilities of various parties to the contract fair....
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....f Indian ships and also for the engagement and discharge of seamen, their wages and welfare, working conditions etc. Further, we find that in order to consolidate the laws relating to admiralty jurisdiction, legal proceedings in connection with vessels, their arrest, detention, sale and other matters connected therewith or incidental thereon the Government had brought out the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017. Section 96 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 provide for engagement of seamen only by a ship owner or his agent. In the present case, ESS Pte., Singapore is the agent of ship owners or manager for providing various ship management services and ESM Pte., Singapore, is the sub-manager for providing ship crew management services. Thus, the appellants are only providing the services of recruitment and enabling the service receiver for supply of such ship crew to the ESS Pte., Singapore or other Ship/ Vessel owners. 11.1 From plain reading of the legal provisions relating to 'Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012' it clearly transpires that the place of provision of service in general has been specified under Rule 3 ibid, and in specific....
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.... as to what is the place of provision of service, as applicable to the present case of the appellants. 11.4 Rule 6A of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 states that provision of any service provided or agreed to be provided shall be treated as export of service, when the following six conditions are satisfied. These are that (a) the provider of service is located in the taxable territory, (b) the recipient of service is located outside India, (c) the service is not a service specified in the section 66D of the Act, (d) the place of provision of the service is outside India, (e) the payment for such service has been received by the provider of service in convertible foreign exchange, and (f) the provider of service and recipient of service are not merely establishments of a distinct person in accordance with item (b) of Explanation 3 of clause (44) of section 65B of the Act. In the present case, there is no dispute that the provider of service is located in the taxable territory in India and the recipient is located abroad/outside India i.e., in Singapore. The services rendered are not specified in Section 66D of the Finance Act, 1994. The payment for the said services has also b....
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.... follows: CLARIFICATION ON DOUBTS RELATED TO SCOPE OF "INTERMEDIARY" "CIRCULAR NO. 159/15/2021-GST [F.NO. CBIC-20001/8/2021-GST], DATED 20-9-2021 Representations have been received citing ambiguity caused in interpretation of the scope of "Intermediary services" in the GST Law. The matter has been examined. In view of the difficulties being faced by the trade and industry and to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions of the law across field formations, the Board, in exercise of its powers conferred by section 168 (1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "CGST Act"), hereby clarifies the issues in succeeding paragraphs. 2. Scope of Intermediary services 2.1 "Intermediary" has been defined in the sub-section (13) of section 2 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "IGST" Act) as under- "Intermediary means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called, who arranges or facilitates the supply of goods or services or both, or securities, between two or more persons, but does not include a person who sup....
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....rly identifiable and distinguished from the main supply. A person involved in supply of main supply on principal to principal basis to another person cannot be considered as supplier of intermediary service. 3.3 Intermediary service provider to have the character of an agent, broker or any other similar person: The definition of "intermediary" itself provides that intermediary service provider means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called....". This part of the definition is not inclusive but uses the expression "means" and does not expand the definition by any known expression of expansion such as "and includes". The use of the expression "arranges or facilitates" in the definition of "Intermediary" suggests a subsidiary role for the intermediary. It must arrange or facilitate some other supply, which is the main supply, and does not himself provides the main supply. Thus, the role of intermediary is only supportive. 3.4 Does not include a person who supplies such goods or services or both or securities on his own account: The definition of intermediary services specifically mentions that intermediary "does not include a person wh....
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.... 5. The illustrations given in para 4 above are only indicative and not exhaustive. The illustrations are also generic in nature and should not be interpreted to mean that the service categories mentioned therein are inherently either intermediary services or otherwise. Whether or not, a specific service would fall under intermediary services within the meaning of sub-section (13) of section 2 of the IGST Act, would depend upon the facts of the specific case. While examining the facts of the case and the terms of contract, the basic characteristics of intermediary services, as discussed in para 3 above, should be kept in consideration." In terms of the above instructions, when applied to the present case, it transpires that the services provided by the service provider to the service receiver ESM Pte., Singapore is on principal-to-principal basis and executed through a service contract; in providing the services that are only two persons involved viz., appellants and ESM Pte., Singapore; there is no principal-agent relationship among the parties to the contract; there is no main and ancillary supply, as there is only one supply of services which is the main supply; and the....
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....the present case fails to meet. In Aban Loyd Chiles Offshore Limited and Ors. (supra), this Court made the following observations : '21. This Court while interpreting Section 11-A of the Central Excise Act in Collector of Central Excise v. H.M.M. Ltd. (supra) has observed that in order to attract the proviso to Section 11-A(1) it must be shown that the excise duty escaped by reason of fraud, collusion or willful misstatement of suppression of fact with intent to evade the payment of duty. It has been observed : '...Therefore, in order to attract the proviso to Section 11-A(1) it must be alleged in the show-cause notice that the duty of excise had not been levied or paid by reason of fraud, collusion or willful misstatement or suppression of fact on the part of the assessee or by reason of contravention of any of the provisions of the Act or of the Rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of duties by such person or his agent. There is no such averment to be found in the show cause notice. There is no averment that the duty of excise had been intentionally evaded or that fraud or collusion had been practiced or that the assessee was guilty of wilful misst....
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....er confirming the adjudged demands for extended period is patently illegal and therefore not sustainable, on the grounds of limitation. 14.1 We also find that the issue of service tax liability in respect of ship management and crew management services rendered in relation to vessel /ship owners has already been dealt in elaborately by the Tribunal in the case of Seaspan Crew Management India Pvt. Ltd. (supra) holding that the service tax is not applicable on such services. The relevant paragraphs of the said order are extracted and given below: "5. Heard both sides and perused the records. The facts are not in dispute are that the appellant are engaged in providing 'man power recruitment/supply agency' services to their overseas client Seaspan Canada under an agreement with them. Article 2 of the said agreement reads as follows: Aspects of the employment of the crew. The service shall include but will not be limited to: 1. Providing assistance in recruiting, selecting and hiring crew for SCML. 2. Ensuring that all members of the crew have passed a medical examination with a qualified doctor certifying th....
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....ication 27/2012 dated 19.06.2010 read with Rule 5 of Cenvat Credit, 2004. In the result, the impugned orders are set aside, the appeals are allowed, with consequential relief, if any, as per law." However, instead of properly appreciating the facts of the above case and the relevance of the above order by the Tribunal in examining the contract/agreements carefully, the learned Commissioner in the impugned order has recorded that the appellants were facilitating the provision of crew recruitment/manning services provided by ESM Pte. Singapore to the ESM Pte. managed vessels, with out explaining the basis. As can be seen from the detailed discussion of various clauses to the service agreement and the safeguards incorporated in the agreement for compliance with international maritime standards and legal requirements in paragraphs 10.2 to 10.4 above, the learned Commissioner had not examined these aspects and the basis for not following the decision of the Tribunal in the above case, and thus the impugned order on this ground is not found on sound legal basis. Thus, we find that the learned Commissioner has not properly brought out the facts for ignoring the decision of the Tribunal....
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....rincipal under whom the appellant had worked as an agent is erroneous. Admittedly payments were received from the first party i.e./employer who has its office in Singapore and such payment has been made in convertible foreign exchange, which remains undisputed. Therefore, appellant cannot be treated as an intermediary of the first party when the agreement indicates that it is the vice versa. Further, as has been held by Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of Indian Association of Tour Operators v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 5267 of 2013] [2017 (5) G.S.T.L. 4 (Del.)], Export is different from non-taxable event and unrelated to POPS which deals clearly with taxable events of service. Therefore, I have got no hesitation to hold that the services carried out by the appellant are in the nature of manpower recruitments/supply agency services which were being exported from India. 5. In view of Circular No. 120/01/2010-S.T., dated 19th January, 2010 issued by the Board which clarified that no correlation or nexus is required to be established between input service and export and since credits were validly taken by the appellant, refund cannot be rejected on the ground that ther....
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....pellant did not provide the said service on their own account, therefore, both the parts of the definition of 'intermediary' are satisfied. To scrutinize the said finding and to analyse the scope of 'Intermediary' defined under Rule 2(f) of POPS Rules, 2012, the same is reproduced below :- "(f) "intermediary" means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called, who arranges or facilitates a provision of a service (hereinafter called the 'main' service) or a supply of goods, between two or more persons, but does not include a person who provides the main service on his account." 9. Since the Commissioner (Appeals) mainly focused on the Agency Service as mentioned in clause 3.2 of the agreement dated 1-4-2003 the same is placed below which reads as follows :- "When required, Ship Manager will provide the agency services which shall include the following services; (i) Appointment of agents; (ii) Recording the expenses incurred (disbursement account) by the agents appointed for the particular vessel; (iii) Making the payment of disbursement accounts of agents; and (iv) Providing such other services as m....
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....ssible to them. This Tribunal in more or less similar circumstances held that the service provided by the assessee in the said case was not an 'intermediary service' but on principal to principal basis, hence, eligible to refund under Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. I do not find much difference in the types of services provided by the appellant in the present case in contrast to above case, hence, applying the principles laid down in the said judgment, I am of the view that the service provided by the appellant fall under the scope of export service, consequently, the impugned orders are set aside and the appeals are allowed with consequential relief, if any, as per law." 14.4 Furthermore, we also find that the issue of service tax liability in respect of the appellant providing Ship Management service involving Crew Management to its foreign associated company based in Hong Kong was examined by the Tribunal in the case of Anglo Eastern Maritime Services Pvt. Ltd. (supra) and it was held that it is not intermediary services. The relevant paragraphs of the said order of the Tribunal is extracted below: "5. I have gone through the case record, written submissions and ....
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....or suffered by the Manager mainly the overseas clients. Section 2 definition on intermediary classifies them as agent, broker, etc. etc. whose action as per Indian Contract Act are supposed to be ratified/indemnified by the Principal and therefore, as per terms of the agreement, I have got no hesitation to say that Appellant is not an intermediary since it provided trained manpower to its overseas customer who recruited them and engaged them in the ship owned by others through a separate Ship Management agreement. Further, Ship Management in its entirety is not confined to requirement of crews by the ship owners as individual. 6. As could be inferred from the order passed by the learned Commissioner (Appeals) at para 7.1 of his order, Appellant's role is restricted to provision of crew management services and not any other services of ship management activities that was being managed by AETM (Hang Kong) Ltd. who outsourced crew management service to the Appellant. This is not factually correct in its entirety in view of the fact of para 9(a) of the Agreement and its sub-para: "9(a) This Agreement is on a "Principal to Principal" basis. It is hereby cle....
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...., the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi had examined the scope of the term 'intermediary' and held that the services provided by the appellants cannot be considered as intermediary services and it would fall within the scope of the definition of 'export of service'. The relevant paragraphs of the said judgement is extracted and given below: "28. The circular dated 20-9-2021 (Circular No. 159/15/2021-GST) issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs also acknowledges that there is broadly no change in the scope of intermediary services in the GST regime vis-à-vis the service tax regime. The relevant extract of the said circular is set out below:- "2. Scope of Intermediary services 2.1 'Intermediary' has been defined in the sub-section (13) of section 2 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "IGST" Act) as under- 'Intermediary means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called, who arranges or facilitates the supply of goods or services or both, or securities, between two or more persons, but does not include a person who supplies such goods or services or....
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....ovides that intermediary service providers-means a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called... " This part of the definition is not inclusive but uses the expression "means" and does not expand the definition by any known expression of expansion such as "and includes". The use of the expression "arranges or facilitates" in the definition of "intermediary" suggests a subsidiary role for the intermediary. It must arrange or facilitate some other supply, which is the main supply, and does not himself provides the main supply. Thus, the role of intermediary is only supportive. 3.4 Does not include a person who supplies such goods or services or both or securities on his own account: The definition of intermediary services specifically mentions that intermediary "does not include a person who supplies such goods or services or both or securities on his own account". Use of word "such" in the definition with reference to supply of goods or services refers to the main supply of goods or services or both, or securities, between two or more persons, which are arranged or facilitated by the intermediary. It implies that in cases wherein the person suppl....
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....evant extract of section 13 of the IGST Act is set out below: "13. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to determine the place of supply of services where the location of the supplier of services or the location of the recipient of services is outside India. (2) The place of supply of services except the services specified in subsections (3) to (13) shall be the location of the recipient of services: Provided that where the location of the recipient of services is not available in the ordinary course of business, the place of supply shall be the location of the supplier of services. ** ** ** (8) The place of supply of the following services shall be the location of the supplier of services, namely:- (a) services supplied by a banking company, or a financial institution, or a non-banking financial company, to account holders; (b) intermediary services; (c) services consisting of hiring of means of transport, including yachts but excluding aircrafts and vessels, up to a period of one month. Explanation.-For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression,-- (a) "account" m....
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....rivate Limited (Trading Division) Vs. Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, the Tribunal has held in the Final Order No. 40478/2023 dated 23.06.2023 in disposal of the Service Tax Appeal No. 41587 of 2016, that the services provided are in the nature of specified taxable services and not 'intermediary service' and the place of provision in such export of services is the location of the service provider abroad. The relevant paragraphs of the said judgement are extracted and given below: "12. The next issue that has to be analysed now is whether the appellant can be treated as an 'intermediary'. 12.1.1 An intermediary is generally meant to be a person who arranges or facilitates supply of goods or provision of service, or both, between two persons without any material alteration/processing. Paragraph 5.9.6 of the Education Guide issued by the C.B.E.C. dated 20-6-2012 has clarified as to intermediary services, as under: - "Generally, an "intermediary" is a person who arranges or facilitates a supply of goods, or a provision of service, or both, between two persons, without material alteration or further processing. Thus, an intermedia....
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....hat by the amendment of the definition of "intermediary" under Rule 2(f) of the Place of Provision of Services, 2012 vide Notification No. 14/2014-ST dated 11-7-2014, a commission agent i.e., a buying or selling agent for supply of goods has also been included to be an intermediary. 12.2.1 "Intermediary", as defined under Rule 2(f) of the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012, means "a broker, an agent or any other person, by whatever name called, who arranges or facilitates a provision of a service or a supply of goods, between two or more persons, but does not include a person who provides the main service or supplies the goods on his account". "Commission agent" means "a person who causes sale or purchase of goods, on behalf of another person for a consideration, which is based on the quantum of such sale or purchase" (as defined in exemption Notification No. 13/2003-S.T. dated 20-62003). Subsequently, with effect from 16-5-2005, "commission agent" was defined in Section 65 (19) of the Finance Act, 1994 to mean "any person who acts on behalf of another person and causes sale or purchase of goods, or provision or receipt of services, for a consideration, and i....
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....imark, Dublin, Ireland on his own account and he is receiving the consideration for the services as a percentage of FOB value of the merchandise exported. There is no evidence on record to show that he is receiving any consideration from the vendors developed by him and as such, the services could not be termed as falling under the category of "intermediary". 12.4 We find that the decision in the case of In Re: GoDaddy India Web Services Pvt. Ltd. [2016 (46) S.T.R. 806 (A.A.R.)] is relevant to understand the term 'intermediary' in its correct perspective, wherein it was observed as under: - "10. The definition of "intermediary" as envisaged under Rule 2(f) of POPS does not include a person who provides the main service on his own account. In the present case, applicant is providing main service, i.e., "business support services" to WWD US and on his own account. Therefore, applicant is not an "intermediary" and the service provided by him is not intermediary service. Further, during arguments, applicant drew our attention to one of the illustration given under Paragraph 5.9.6 of the Education Guide, 2012 issued by C.B.E. & C. Relevant portion is extracted ....
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.... safeguards, conditions and limitations, as may be specified, by the Central Government, by notification." 13.1.2 In the present case, there is no dispute that the provider of service is located in the taxable territory and the recipient is located abroad/outside India. The services rendered are not specified in Section 66D of the Finance Act. The payment for the said services has also been received by the appellant in convertible foreign exchange. Therefore, the only condition that is required to be satisfied is whether the place of provision of service is outside India or not. 13.2.1 In terms of Rule 3 of the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012, the place of provision of service shall be the location of the recipient of service. In respect of intermediary service, in terms of Rule 9, the place of provision of service shall be the location of the service provider. Rules 3 and 9 of the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012 are extracted below: - "Rule 3. Place of provision generally. - The place of provision of a service shall be the location of the recipient of service : Provided that in case [of services other than online i....