CGST Circular 32/06/2018

(1) A customer pays fees while
registering complaints to Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission
office and its subordinate offices.

These fees are credited into State
Customer Welfare Fund’s bank
account.

(2)Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission office and its
subordinate offices charge penalty
in cash when it is required.

(3) When a person files an appeal to
Consumers Disputes Redressal
Commission against order of
District Forum, amount equal to
50% of total amount imposed by the
District Forum or Rs 25000/-
whichever is less, is required to be
paid.

Services by any court or Tribunal
established under any law for the time
being in force is neither a supply of goods
nor services. Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commissions (National/ State/ District)
may not be tribunals literally as they may
not have been set up directly under Article 323B of the Constitution. However, they
are clothed with the characteristics of a
tribunal on account of the following: –

(1) Statement of objects and reasons as
mentioned in the Consumer Protection
Bill state that one of its objects is to
provide speedy and simple redressal to
consumer disputes, for which a quasijudicial
machinery is sought to be set
up at District, State and Central levels.

(2) The President of the District/
State/National Disputes Redressal
Commissions is a person who has
been or is qualified to be a District
Judge, High Court Judge and Supreme
Court Judge respectively.

(3) These Commissions have been vested
with the powers of a civil court under
CPC for issuing summons, enforcing
attendance of defendants/witnesses,
reception of evidence,
discovery/production of documents,
examination of witnesses, etc.

(4) Every proceeding in these
Commissions is deemed to be judicial
proceedings as per sections 193/228 of
IPC.

(5) The Commissions have been deemed
to be a civil court under CrPC.

(6) Appeals against District Commissions
lie to State Commission while appeals
against the State Commissions lie to
the National Commission. Appeals
against National Commission lie to
the Supreme Court.

In view of the aforesaid, it is hereby
clarified that fee paid by litigants in the
Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commissions are not leviable to GST. Any
penalty imposed by or amount paid to these
Commissions will also not attract GST.

(1) Hospitals hire senior doctors/
consultants/ technicians
independently, without any contract
of such persons with the patient; and
pay them consultancy charges,
without there being any employeremployee
relationship. Will such
consultancy charges be exempt from
GST? Will revenue take a stand that
they are providing services to
hospitals and not to patients and
hence must pay GST?

(2)Retention money: Hospitals charge
the patients, say, Rs.10000/- and pay
to the consultants/ technicians only
Rs. 7500/- and keep the balance for
providing ancillary services which
include nursing care, infrastructure
facilities, paramedic care,
emergency services, checking of
temperature, weight, blood pressure etc. Will GST be applicable on such
money retained by the hospitals?

(3) Food supplied to the patients:
Health care services provided by the
clinical establishments will include
food supplied to the patients; but
such food may be prepared by the
canteens run by the hospitals or may
be outsourced by the Hospitals from
outdoor caterers. When outsourced,
there should be no ambiguity that
the suppliers shall charge tax as
applicable and hospital will get no
ITC. If hospitals have their own
canteens and prepare their own
food; then no ITC will be available
on inputs including capital goods
and in turn if they supply food to the
doctors and their staff; such
supplies, even when not charged,
may be subjected to GST.

(1) Services provided by senior doctors/
consultants/ technicians hired by the
hospitals, whether employees or not,
are healthcare services which are
exempt.

(2) Healthcare services have been defined
to mean any service by way of
diagnosis or treatment or care for
illness, injury, deformity, abnormality
or pregnancy in any recognised
system of medicines in India[para
2(zg) of notification No. 12/2017-
CT(Rate)]. Therefore, hospitals also
provide healthcare services. The
entire amount charged by them from
the patients including the retention money and the fee/payments made to
the doctors etc., is towards the
healthcare services provided by the
hospitals to the patients and is exempt.

The relationship of the oil
exploration and production contractors
with the Government is not that of partners
but that of licensor/lessor and
licensee/lessee in terms of the Petroleum
and Natural Gas Rules, 1959. Having
acquired the right to explore, exploit and
sell petroleum in lieu of royalty and a share
in profit petroleum, contractors carry out
the exploration and production of petroleum for themselves and not as a
service to the Government. Para 8.1 of the
Model Production Sharing Contract
(MPSC) states that subject to the
provisions of the PSC, the Contractor shall
have exclusive right to carry out Petroleum
Operations to recover costs and expenses
as provided in this Contract. The oil
exploration and production contractors
conduct all petroleum operations at their
sole risk, cost and expense. Hence, cost
petroleum is not a consideration for service
to GOI and thus not taxable per se.
However, cost petroleum may be an
indication of the value of mining or
exploration services provided by operating
member to the joint venture, in a situation
where the operating member is found to be
supplying service to the oil exploration and
production joint venture.