The West Bengal Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) affirmed that Newtown Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is a ‘Local Authority’ and is entitled to the benefit of the exemption on the services.
The applicant namely Newtown Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is a Statutory Authority under the NKDA Act as it is engaged in discharging the municipal function, despite the fact that it is not actually the municipality as per Article 243Q of the constitution of India.
In order to discharge the municipal functions, the state government has empowered the Newtown Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) with the control or management of a local fund as defined in TR 6.29 of WBTR.
The applicant is also engaged in providing various civic amenities such as water supply, drainage, sewage, collection, removal, and disposal of solid waste, etc. The Applicant has the power to collect various taxes, fees, charges, etc. All such taxes, fees, and charges are credited to the ‘Development Fund’ constituted under
Section 19 of the Newtown Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) Act. The Applicant, therefore, claims that the exemptions available to a local authority under the various entries of the Exemption Notification should apply to its services also.
This issue raised was whether the applicant is a ‘local authority’, and can it claim the exemption available to a local authority under the various entries of the Exemption Notification or not?
The West Bengal Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) comprising of Member
West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling Susmita Bhattacharya and Parthasarathi Dey ruled that NKDA is a ‘Local Authority’ under Section 2(69)(c) of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act and is entitled to the benefit of the exemption on the services.
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