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2019 (3) TMI 617 - CESTAT CHENNAILevy of service tax - export of services or not - International Inbound Roaming Services provided by VCL to Foreign Telecommunication Operator Companies (FTOs), for which consideration is paid by the FTOs to the appellant in convertible foreign exchange - POPOS Rules - Held that:- The department has proceeded with the view that the actual beneficiary of the service is the inbound roamers and the appellant being a service provider for such international roaming facility, the service would fall within the levy of service tax. In fact, even though the actual beneficiary of the service is inbound roamer, there is no agreement by the appellant to provide service to the actual inbound roamer. The agreement to provide service is between the appellant and the foreign telecommunication company. Thus, for the appellant, the service recipient can only be the foreign telecommunication company and not the international inbound roamer. Since the service recipient is located outside India, as per Rule 3(iii) of Export of Service Rules, the said services would amount to export of service for the period prior to 1.7.2012. For the period after 1.7.2012, the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012 came to be introduced and as per Rule 3 of such Rules, the location of the service recipient has to be taken into account for deciding as to where the services have been provided. So for the entire period of dispute, since the service recipient is outside India, the same amounts to export of services. It is clear from the order of Revisionary authority that when the appellant had paid service tax and filed refund claims on the very same services, the department has granted refund holding the services as export of services. The department has granted refund upto the period 31.3.2011. The department therefore cannot contend that the services are not export of services for the period from 1.4.2011 to 30.6.2012 and 1.10.2013 to 30.9.2014 which is the disputed periods in these appeals. The services are not exigible to service tax being export of service - Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
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