TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (3) TMI 1300
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....or suppression of material facts or misrepresentation of facts, shall render such ruling to be void ab initio in accordance with Section 104 of the Act. 5. The provisions of both the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act (herein referred to as the Act) are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act would also mean a reference to the same provisions under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act. M/s. A V CARGO MIGRATORS LLP, No.36/1, Raghav Towers, Amman Nagar, Saravanampatti, Coimbatore-641035, Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (hereinafter called as the "Applicant") are registered under the GST Act with GSTIN:33ACFFA7656K1Z5. The Applicant operates as an E-commerce platform that connects vehicle owners/drivers (referred to as transporters) with customers who require transportation services for their goods. Customers can book transporters through the online portal or mobile app of the applicant, which is currently under development. The applicant has sought advance ruling on the following question: Q1. Whe....
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....ledges that key factors such as ancillary services and issue of consignment note requirements must be considered when determining whether a service is classified under GST as a GTA. 4.3 The term "in relation to" as mentioned in the definition of GTA, extends the GTA classification beyond core transportation to include essential ancillary services, such as loading, unloading, packing, trans-shipment, and temporary warehousing, as long as they are integral to the transport process and not billed separately. Further stated that as per Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) which provides for the list of exempted supply of services under the CGST Act,2017 and serial No.18 of such notification, which reads as below: Sl.No. Chapter, Section, Heading, Group or Service Code (Tariff) Description of Services Rate (per cent) Condition (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 18 Heading 9965 Services by way of transportation of goods- (a) by road except the services of (i) a goods transportation agency; (ii) a courier agency; (b) by inland waterways. Nil Nil 4.4 As per the above Serial No.18 of Notification No. 12/2017-Cent....
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....hen the applicant collects the consideration for the supplies made through its platform. 4.9 The applicant stated that based on the above facts, they believe that they qualify as an e-commerce operator under GST rather than a goods transport agency for the following reasons: - The applicant operates a digital platform to facilitate transportation booking. - It does not directly engage in the physical transportation of goods or issue consignment notes. - It generates revenue through commissions from transactions between customers and transporters. Thus, the applicant is of the view that it should be classified as an e-commerce operator under GST. The applicant has also cited various advance ruling in their support. 5. The applicant falls within the administrative jurisdiction of 'STATE'. No remarks has been received from the State jurisdictional authorities. Hence, it is construed that there are no pending proceedings against the applicant on the questions raised by them in their advance ruling application. The Central jurisdictional authorities have furnished their remarks and informed that there are no pending proceedings on the questions raised....
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.... freight directly to transporters, 12% commission is deducted from the deposit made by the applicant. (b) If customers pay freight directly to the applicant, commission is deducted from the payment and the remaining amount is paid to the transporter. 8. "Goods Transport Agency" (GTA) under definition 2(ze) of Notification No. 12/2017-CT(Rate) dated 28-06-2017 states, (ze) "goods transport agency" means any person who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues consignment note, by whatever name called; As per the above definition, the applicant shall not be considered as a Goods Transport Agency (GTA) as he is not involved in any of the activity namely, transportation goods by road, issue of consignment note, or ancillary activities such as loading, unloading, packing, transshipment, warehousing etc. 9. Sl. No. 18 of the said Notification provides exemption only to 'services by way of 'Transportation of goods by road' provided by persons other than Goods Transport Agency and Courier Agency. The relevant entry is, Sl.No. Chapter, Section, Heading, Group or Service Code (Tariff) Description of Services Rate (per cent.) ....
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.... of another; The above definition states that an agent executes the supply or receipt of goods or services on behalf of another, namely the principal. Here, the receipt and supply of 'goods transport service' is between the transporter and the customer through the applicant's electronic platform. Moreover, the passenger transportation services are not provided by the applicant, but by the transporter to the customer, though facilitated by the applicant. Therefore, the activity of the applicant would not fall within the scope of an 'agent'. 15. The applicant further stated that in some bookings, the consideration collected by the applicant directly from the customers and paid to transporters through them after deducting their commission, would fall within 'pure agent's' service and would not be liable to tax. 16. The definition of pure agent under Rule 33 of the CGST Rules, 2017 states as, Rule 33. Value of supply of services in case of pure agent.- Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter, the expenditure or costs incurred by a supplier as a pure agent of the recipient of supply shall be excluded from the value of supply, if....
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....ters who accepts the bookings through the platform each time the job of 'transportation of goods' is completed. This commission is deducted by the applicant from the pre-deposit to be made by the vehicle owners/drivers/transporters. Therefore, the applicant is liable to pay GST on the commission received from the vehicle owners/drivers/transporters. 19. In addition to the commission received by the applicant, as an e- commerce operator, the collection of tax and liability to pay by the applicant is mandated under Section 52 of the Act. Section 52 provides guidelines and procedures for an e-commerce operator to collect tax at source, specifies the applicable rate of 'Tax collected at Source" (TCS), procedure for remitting the TCS and mandatory periodical declarations and returns to be submitted to the department. 20. The applicant in this case, in not a 'Goods Transport Agency', not an 'agent' not the actual service provider of 'transportation of goods' but facilitates both the transporters and the customers thorough electronic platform to render and avail the said service. Therefore, the applicant is rightly classified as an e-commerce operator who is liable to follow Section....