𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗞𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 📢 The Tribunal held: "Payment of roaming charges to foreign telecom operators (FTOs) for providing connectivity services to the appellant's subscribers abroad is not subject to service tax under 'Business Auxiliary Services' as FTOs do not qualify as 'Telegraph Authority.'"

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: M/s Vodafone Essar East Ltd. 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether the international roaming services are liable to service tax under "Business Auxiliary Services"?

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant entered into international roaming agreements with foreign telecom operators (FTOs) to provide roaming services to subscribers traveling abroad. A show-cause notice was issued alleging service tax liability on roaming services under the reverse charge mechanism, categorizing them as “Business Auxiliary Services.”

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled that services provided by foreign telecom operators (FTOs) fall under 'Telecommunication Service' and are not taxable as FTOs do not qualify as 'Telegraph Authority' under the India Telegraph Act. The demand under 'Business Auxiliary Services' is unsustainable, and the appeal was allowed, setting aside the service tax demand.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: M/s Vodafone Essar East Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Service Tax, Kolkata 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼. 70946 of 2013 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 30 November 2023 📜 This ruling confirms that roaming charges paid to FTOs for services rendered outside India are not taxable under 'Business Auxiliary Services.'