TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (7) TMI 1004
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.... 3. The facts of the case are that M/s. M.M. Group (hereinafter referred to as the "appellant") are engaged in providing vocational training and skill development services and are registered as a Vocational Training Provider (VTP) in the State of West Bengal, with the Director of Industrial Training, Govt. of West Bengal vide Registration No. 1906004. As per the registration documents dated 23rd December, 2011, the appellant was registered as a Vocational Training Provider (VTP) for implementation of Govt. of India's Skill Development Initiative (SDI) under Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGE&T), Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E), Govt. of India. They provided NCVT-approved Modular Employable Skill (MES) courses. This Scheme (Skill Development Initiative (SDI) Scheme) is now under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India. 4. The appellant was accorded approval to conduct training programmes under the Prime Minister's National Skill Development Mission, a new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSD&E) initiative set up in the year 2014 to coordinate all skill development efforts across the co....
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....iled Nil Service Tax Returns for the material period. 6. During the relevant period, the appellant was engaged in providing the following vocational education/training/skill development courses: a) Advance Diploma in Information Technology (ADIT) Vocational education/training/skill development courses provided through Employment Exchange (Labour Department), Government of West Bengal b) Bengali & English Typing with DTP and Certificate course in E-System Management-Vocational education/training/skill development courses provided through West Bengal Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (WBMDFC), Government of West Bengal c) Certificate in Rural Management (CRM), Diploma in office automation & Networking(DOAN) and Diploma in Information Technology & Networking (DITN) - Provided through Aliah University, Government of West Bengal d) Land Surveyor, Diploma in Bengali & English Typing with DTP, Driver Cum Mechanic and NIELIT "O" Level - Provided through Aliah University, Government of West Bengal 7. Based on TDS information received from Income Tax Department through inter-departmental information sharing system for the period 2014-15, i....
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.... Notification 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012. (i) The appellant submits that Sl. 9A of the Notification 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 provides exemption to any services provided by, (i) The National Skill Development Corporation set up by the Government of India; (ii) a Sector Skill Council approved by the National Skill Development Corporation; (iii) an assessment agency approved by the Sector Skill Council or the National Skill Development Corporation; (iv) a training partner approved by the National Skill Development Corporation or the Sector Skill Council in relation to (a) the National Skill Development Programme implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation; or (b) a vocational skill development course under the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme; or (c) any other Scheme implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation. (ii) As per Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, Every State have their State Skill Development Mission. The state of West Bengal have their Skill Development Mission in the name of Paschim Banga Society for Skill Developme....
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....on Convent (SC), distinguishing it from Dilip Kumar & Co. by emphasizing that beneficial exemption notifications must be interpreted purposively. Where an entity contributes to the policy goals behind a tax exemption-such as skill development in this case-it should not be denied benefit merely due to technicalities or lack of direct documentation. The ruling affirms that where the intent and implementation of services are in line with exempted purposes, exemptions must be extended even through indirect linkages, recognizing both funded and non-funded partnerships with NSDC. (vii) Relying on the said ruling, the appellant submits that no Service tax is payable by the Appellant who acts as a training partner in line with the notification. II. The appellant's services fall squarely under "approved vocational education course" exemption under Section 66D(l)(iii) of Finance Act, 1994 and are specifically excluded from the purview of Service Tax. (i) The appellant submits that Section 66D of the Finance Act, 1994 provides the negative list of services which are specifically excluded from the levy of Service Tax. Section 66D(l)(iii) specifically excludes "edu....
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.... informal means/competence assessed" and emphasizes that "the essence of the scheme is in the certification on vocational training from the NCVT that is nationally and internationally recognized." This conclusively establishes NCVT approval for all courses conducted by the appellant. (vii) Further, the nature of these services is further reinforced by the fact that the Government reimburses training costs to VTPs like the appellant. The approval letter confirms that "approved VTP has to submit Bank Guarantee as per prescribed format, if applicable. Reimbursement of Training Fee would be made only after receiving of Fund from DGE&T, Government of India." This demonstrates that the Government itself recognizes these as essential vocational education services deserving public funding support. (viii) Thus, it is submitted that the appellant's courses squarely fall within the definition of "approved vocational education course" under clause (ii), which covers "a Modular Employable Skill Course, approved by the National Council of Vocational Training, run by a person registered with the Directorate General of Employment and Training." (ix) All three essenti....
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....mta Coal Ltd. v. Commissioner [2024 (8) TMI 475 - CESTAT Kolkata]. Thus, the appellant submits that both the impugned order are liable to be set aside on the ground of limitation also. 10.2. In view of these submissions, the Ld. Counsel for the appellant prayed for setting aside the impugned orders and allowing their appeals. 11. On the other hand, the Ld. Authorized Representative of the Revenue reiterated the findings in the impugned orders. He also inter alia made the following submissions: - (i) The appellant was engaged in imparting education/training for skill development and trains the trainees in Computer Course on behalf of M/s Electronic Corporation of India Ltd., Aliah University, National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELT), CSC E-governance Services India Ltd. and received consideration. (ii) During adjudication, the appellant had only submitted a copy of the Certificate issued by the Directorate of Industrial Training, Bikash Bhawan, 10th Floor (North Block), Salt Lake City, Kolkata, regarding registration of VTP in the State of West Bengal under SDI Scheme. The content of the subject letter was that the approval of VTP re....
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....rt of an approved vocational (emphasis supplied) education course;" (vi) As regard to Sl. No. (ii) of clause (1) of 66D, it may be mentioned here that the same was related to delivery of education as a part of the curriculum that has been prescribed for obtaining a qualification prescribed by law. It is important to understand that to be in the negative list the service should be delivered as part of curriculum. Conduct of degree courses by colleges, universities or institutions which lead grant of qualifications recognized by law is covered under this clause; but, training given by private coaching institutes would not be covered as such raining does not lead to grant of a recognized qualification. Therefore, the said clause is not applicable to the appellant. Hence, the contention of the appellant in this instant case is not sustainable. 11.1. Thus, the Ld. Authorized Representative of the Revenue prayed for upholding the demands confirmed vide the impugned orders. 12. Heard both sides and perused the appeal records. Service Tax Appeal No. 75950 of 2022 13. In this case, I observe that the appellant has inter alia entered into agreements with the following en....
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....agency approved by the Sector Skill Council or the National Skill Development Corporation; (iv) a training partner approved by the National Skill Development Corporation or the Sector Skill Council in relation to (a) the National Skill Development Programme implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation; or (b) a vocational skill development course under the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme; or (c) any other Scheme implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation." (Emphasis supplied) 14.1. From the above, it is evident that a training partner approved by the National Skill Development Corporation or the Sector Skill Council, undertaking course approved them are eligible for the exemption from payment of service tax as provided under of Sl. No. 9A of Notification No. 25/2012-S.T. dated 20.06.2012. 14.2. In support of their contention that the programme undertaken by them is approved by the Government, the appellant has produced the letter dated 30.12.2011 issued by the Director of Industrial Training, West Bengal to the appellant regarding Registration of VTP in the State of West Bengal under SDI Scheme. For....
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....ch in 2005-06 made the following announcement: "To meet the demand for specific skills of a high order, a Public Private Partnership between Government and Industry is proposed to promote skills development program under the name 'Skill Development Initiative....." Accordingly, Ministry of Labour & Employment undertook development of a new strategic framework for skill development for early school leavers and existing workers, especially in the un-organized sector in close consultation with industry. micro enterprises in the un-organized sector, State Governments, experts and academia which were essential considering their educational, social and economic background. 5.1 Progress of Skill Development Initiative Scheme (SDIS) Ministry of Labour and Employment launched Skill Development Initiative Scheme (SDIS) in May 2007. DGE&T at the national level issues the guidelines and provides funding and direction to the scheme whereas the implementation is carried out by the state government and regional institutions under Ministry of Labour and Employment in partnership with VTP and Assessing Bodies. The online implementation of the SDI sch....
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....for the exemption from payment of service tax as provided under of Sl. No. 9A of Notification No. 25/2012-S.T. dated 20.06.2012. 17. I find that a similar issue has already been dealt with by the Tribunal at Hyderabad in the case of SRK Innovatives School of Information Pvt. Ltd. v. Pr. Commissioner of Central Tax, Visakhapatnam, G.S.T. [2025 (5) TMI 262 - CESTAT, Hyderabad]. The relevant observations of the Tribunal in the above case are reproduced below: - "11. Even though, the impugned order is not sustainable on the ground as discussed, supra, we have also examined the claim for eligibility under Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 (entry no. 9A). 12. We find that the Adjudicating Authority has gone through a great deal of effort in analysing the scope and the factual matrix before coming to the conclusion that the said exemption would not be admissible to the appellant. Before, we proceed further, the entry at Serial No. 9A of the Notification No. 25/2012-ST is reproduced below for ease of reference: 9A. Any services provided by;- (i) the National Skill Development Corporation set up by the Government of India; (ii)....
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....es in relation to any of the services specified viz. National Skill Development Programme implemented by NSDC, or a vocational skill development course under the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme besides any other scheme implemented by NSDC. 14. The Adjudicating Authority also doubted the credential of the appellant for claiming the benefit of the notification on the ground that all the work orders for skill development are in the name of M/s Datapro Computers Pvt Ltd., and not in their name and both being two different legal entities, it cannot be said that appellant has provided computer training under the said project/scheme. 15. We have perused the Tripartite Agreement between NSDC on one hand and M/s Datapro Computers Pvt Ltd., (Datapro) and SRK Innovatives School of Information Pvt Ltd., (SRKISI) as other party, who have been jointly termed as borrowers. This is essentially a loan agreement for providing assistance on certain concessional terms in terms of interest, repayment etc., and for specific purpose. The assistance being provided by NSDC to these co-borrowers is essentially an amount advanced by NSDC to the borrowers as a soft lo....
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....uter literacy etc., to upgrade the skill of the students and making them ready for employment. This is not being disputed that they were not running a training organisation and they had never provided any skill upgradation training to student making them adaptable and ready for employment. It is also not in dispute that though M/s Datapro and the appellant have jointly taken concessional loan/funds and assistance from the NSDL, it is the appellant who has actually provided the service of skill development. As already pointed out that Datapro had a back-to-back MoU with the appellant to provide certain skill upgradation training in terms of various orders placed on them by various state governments under different schemes. For example, in the case of order provided to Datapro by Government of Bihar's Urban Development Housing Department, we find that this work is in the nature of EST and P component of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM). NULM is a scheme under the Ministry of central government (MOUD), where the execution is done through state governments. In addition to this, even the soft loan agreement with NSDC, jointly with Datapro and the appellant, also shows t....
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....n agreement itself it is apparent that the soft loan has been extended, for specific skill development programmes to be conducted by the appellant. Various other documents submitted, including the one where the order is from the State Government of Bihar, show that they were imparting skill upgradation training as a part of NULM. It is also observed that NSDC is engaged in implementing the skill development component of various schemes run by different ministries. Thus, holistically considering the objective for creation of NSDC and it's role, it would be obvious that the loan was provided for skill development programme only and was in relation to schemes being implemented by other Central Government Ministries and State Governments. Further, skill being imparted i.e. computer training etc., is definitely a vocational training also. Therefore, we find that plain reading of the notification would show that the intention is to exempt all the services provided by NSDC or by sector skill council approved by NSDC or by a training partner approved by the NSDC, in relation to, inter alia, any scheme implemented by NSDC. The rationale adopted by the Adjudicating Authority that since t....
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....round raised by the appellant. 19. I also observe that the appellant has contested the demand on account of limitation also. It is the appellant's submission in this regard that they have not suppressed any information from the Department and all transactions were duly recorded in their books of accounts, which were open to inspection by the Departmental authorities at all times. The appellant also pointed out that they had been in correspondence with the jurisdictional Range Office seeking clarification on the issue. In this regard, the appellant has referred to the letter dated 05.08.2013 addressed to the Superintendent, Malda Range seeking clarification as to the liability to Service Tax on the said services and the reply thereto, which are extracted below for the sake of ready reference: - 20. From the above, I find that the appellant had sought clarification on the issue vide their letter dated 05.08.2013 and to that letter, the Superintendent, Malda Range had replied that Service Tax is not leviable when a VEC is offered by the Government or local authority. Thus, it is evident from the above that the Department was well aware of the activity undertaken by the appellant....
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....Hence, I hold that in both the cases, the appellant succeeds on merits as well as on limitation. 23. The appeals are disposed of thus. (Order pronounced in the open court on 15.07.2025) ============= Document 1 Directorate of Industrial Training Bikash Bhavan , 10" Floor ( North Block) , Saltlake City Kolkata-700091 No. 51-201/5TCMES/2011/439:(1) Dated 2225 December ,2011 30th To The Principal / Director, M.M.Group Training Centre MRS Building, DCR Market 2"" Floor, Malda-732101 Sub : " Itegistration af VTP in the State of West Bengal ouder SDI Scheme" Sir, This is to intimate you that the approval of VTP registration under SDI Scheme is accorded for your Institute to conduct training programme in the approved courses as mentioned in the enclosed list ( Annexure-I) . You are therefore requested to run the approved training programme immediately and inform this Directorate in prescribed format ( meswestbengaltegmail.com). The approved VTP has to submit Bank Guarantee as per prescribed format, If applicable . Reimbursement of Training Fee would be made only after receiving of Fund from DGE&T, Government of India. Enclo : As stated Yours faithf....