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Issues involved: Appeal against adjudication order confirming service tax for "Online Information or Database Access or Retrieval" (OIDARS) and "Sale of Space or Time for Advertisement" services.
Issue 1: Taxability of OIDARS service The appellant appealed against the adjudication order confirming service tax for OIDARS service provided by a foreign news agency. The appellant remitted charges to the foreign news agency for online information and database access, leading to a tax demand of &8377; 1,20,788. The appellant claimed exemption under Notification No. 13/2010-S.T., dated 27-2-2010, which exempts Indian news agencies from service tax for OIDARS services. The Central Government exempted OIDARS services provided by Indian news agencies subject to certain conditions, which the appellant fulfilled. However, the adjudicating authority rejected the claim, stating that the appellant was the recipient, not the provider of OIDARS. Section 66A(1)(b) treats a recipient as the provider of taxable services for certain purposes. The Tribunal held that the appellant, though a recipient, should be considered the provider of OIDARS and entitled to the benefits of the exemption notification. Issue 2: Stay of proceedings Based on the above premise, the Tribunal granted a waiver of pre-deposit in full and stayed all further proceedings following the adjudication order until the appeal is disposed of. The Tribunal's decision was made to ensure that the appellant is not unduly burdened during the appeal process. In conclusion, the Tribunal ruled in favor of the appellant regarding the taxability of OIDARS service and granted a stay on further proceedings pending the appeal's disposal to prevent any adverse impact on the appellant during the legal process.
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