9911796707
TMI Blog2019 (9) TMI 462X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ST/53250/2014 - Order No. 60742/2019 - Dated:- 3-9-2019 - HON BLE Mr. ASHOK JINDAL, MEMBER (JUDICIAL) AND HON BLE Mr. C L MAHAR, MEMBER (TECHNICAL) Ms. Krati Somani, Advocate for the Appellant Shri Rajeev Gupta, Shri Atul Handa, ARs for the Respondent ORDER Per: Mr. Ashok Jindal The appellant is in appeal against the impugned order wherein the demand of service tax along with interest was confirmed against the appellant by the adjudicating authority. The penalty was also imposed under Sections 76,77, and 78 of the Finance Act, 1994. 2. The facts of the case are that the appellant is engaged in providing health services. An Audit was conducted and it was noticed that the appellant has entered into agreement with various doctors/consultants on revenue sharing basis whereby a part of the doctor‟s/consultants fee is retained by them in lieu of providing administrative support to them. Further, it was noticed that the appellant has retained certain percentage of the consultant‟s fee charged from the patients as per agreement with different consultants on account of a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... service and pricing policies, infrastructural support services and other transaction processing. Explanation. __ For the purposes of this clause, the expression infrastructural support services includes providing office along with office utilities, lounge, reception with competent personnel to handle messages, secretarial services, internet and telecom facilities, pantry and security. 5. The claim of the Revenue is that the appellants have provided infrastructural support service to various doctors. As a consideration for such support, they have retained a part of the amount collected from visiting patients. We have perused some of the agreements/appointment arrangements entered into between the appellant s hospitals and the individual doctors. Typically, the arrangement contains details like duration of time for consultation, the obligations on the part of the doctors, fee to be paid, procedure for termination of agreement, etc. The agreements generally talk about appointment of consultants to provide services to the patients who will visit or admitted in the appellants hospital. The doctors will receive a percentage of share of the collectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... they are paying the doctors. The retained money out of the amount charged from the patients is necessarily also for such health care services. The patient paid the full amount to the appellant hospitals and received health care services. For providing such services, the appellants entered into an agreement, as discussed above, with various consulting doctors. We do not find any business support services in such arrangement. 7. The inference made by the Revenue that the retained amount by the hospital is to compensate the infrastructural support provided to the doctors can be examined in another angle also. Reading the statutory provisions for BSS, we note that the services mentioned therein are provided in relation to business or commerce. As such, to bring in a tax liability on the appellant hospital, it should be held that they are providing infrastructural support services in relation to business or commerce. That means, the doctors are in business or commerce and are provided with infrastructural support. This apparently is the view of the Revenue. We are not in agreement with such proposition. Doctors are engaged in medical profession. As examined by Hon b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... India, or a place established as an independent entity or a part of an establishment to carry out diagnostic or investigative services 10. The terms health care services is defined as below: health care services means any service by way of diagnosis or treatment or care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality or pregnancy in any recognized system of medicines in India and includes services by way of transportation of the patient to and from a clinical establishment but does not include their transplant or cosmetic or plastic surgery, except when undertaken to restore or to reconstruct anatomy or functions of both affected due to congenial defects, developmental abnormalities, injury or trauma. 11. These two provisions available in Notification No.25/2012 will show that a clinical establishment providing health care services are exempted from service tax. The view of the Revenue that in spite of such exemption available to health care services, a part of the consideration received for such health care services from the patients shall be taxed as business support service/taxable service is not tenable. In effect this wi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
