The e-commerce operator, Uber has moved to the Delhi High Court challenging GST on Auto Rickshaws services booked through the e-commerce platform.
Mr. Arvind Data, counsel for the Petitioner states that Notification No. 16/2021 and Notification No. 17 / 2021 have made amendments to the parent notifications i.e. Notification No. 12/2017 and Notification No. 17/2017 in order to levy GST on the supply of transportation of passenger service, through an ‘electronic commerce operator’, and provided by an auto-rickshaw. He further states that the Impugned Notifications will come into effect from 1st January 2022 and if an auto-driver registers itself with an e-commerce operator like the Petitioner and provides transportation of passenger services to passengers identified through such e-commerce platform, GST at 5% or 12% will become applicable on the fare collected on such passenger transport services through auto-rickshaws, even though an auto ride through offline modes like street hailing of the auto will still be exempt.
Mr. Data contended that the impugned notifications are violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India as they fail to satisfy the test of reasonable classification. He states that no differentiation in tax treatment can be created between passenger transport services rendered by auto drivers facilitated through e-commerce platforms versus passenger transport services rendered by auto drivers offline.
The division bench of Justice Monamohan and Justice Navin Chawla issued the notice to the government.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan AdFree. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.
