TMI Blog2013 (7) TMI 874X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... TMI 691 - KERALA HIGH COURT] in deciding the issue against the assessee. - Calcutta High Court has also taken the view that the discount given to the distributors of "pre-paid cards" constitutes commission payment in the assessee's own case reported in Bharti Cellular Ltd. (Now Bharti Airtel Ltd) v. Asst. CIT [2011 (5) TMI 590 - CALCUTTA HIGH COURT]. The learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) has noticed that the hon'ble High Court of Delhi has also taken identical view on this issue in the case of Idea Cellular [2010 (2) TMI 24 - DELHI HIGH COURT]. - Decided against assessee. - I.T.A. No. 80 to 83/Coch/2013 - - - Dated:- 10-7-2013 - S/SHRI N.R.S.GANESAN B.R.BASKARAN, JJ. For the Appellant : Sri Binu Jacob, Tax Man ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of ₹ 100 or more/less than the said amount. The subscriber of the prepaid card can use it to the extent of usage value attached to the card, i.e., ₹ 100 or less/more embedded therein. The assessee-company would be selling the prepaid card to its distributor at discounted rate. For example, a prepaid card of ₹ 100 may be sold by the assessee-company to its distributor at ₹ 97 and the distributor in turn sell the same for a price exceeding ₹ 97. Thus, there will be a difference between the face value of pre-paid cards and their selling price charged to the distributors. 4. The issue under consideration is whether the difference between the face value of prepaid cards and its selling price constitute discou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e- tax (Appeals) has followed the binding decision of the hon'ble jurisdictional High Court in the case of Vodafone Essar Cellular Ltd. [2011] 332 ITR 255 (Ker) in deciding the issue against the assessee. For the sake of convenience, we extract below the operative portion of his order : 11.I have carefully perused the grounds of appeal, statement of facts and submission as made by the appellant as well as the impugned order the Assessing Officer with reference to the facts and circumstances of this case. I have given thoughtful consideration to the assessment order and arguments put forth on behalf of the appellant. I have carefully examined the rival arguments put forth by both parties in this case. On examination o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nly for the purpose of rendering continued services by the assessee to the subscriber of the mobile phone. Consequently, the charges collected by the assessee at the time of delivery of SIM cards or recharge coupons is for rendering services to the ultimate sub scriber. The distributor is the middleman arranging customers or sub scribers for the assessee after ensuring proper identification and documentation. Besides, the discount given at the time of supply of SIM cards and recharge coupons, the assessee is not paying any amount to the distributor for the services rendered by them like getting the subscribers identified, doing the documentation work and enrolling them as mobile subscribers to the service provider, namely, the assessee. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of issues while considering the case of CIT v. Idea Cellular Ltd. reported in [2010] 325 ITR 148 (Delhi). The grounds raised by the appellant are therefore dismissed. 8. We also notice that the hon'ble Calcutta High Court has also taken the view that the discount given to the distributors of pre-paid cards constitutes commission payment in the assessee's own case reported in Bharti Cellular Ltd. (Now Bharti Airtel Ltd) v. Asst. CIT [2013] 354 ITR 507 (Cal). The learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) has noticed that the hon'ble High Court of Delhi has also taken identical view on this issue in the case of Idea Cellular [2010] 325 ITR 148 (Delhi). 9. Since the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) has foll ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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