Authorised service station — Authorisation has to be given by the manufacturer of vehicles only, not by any manufacturer and the services have to be provided only in relation to vehicles manufactured by that manufacturer — If respondent provided services to vehicle manufactured by other manufacturer for which he is not authorised to provide services, they cannot be held authorised service station vis-àvis such manufacturer of vehicle and services provided in respect of those vehicles.

Authorised service station — Authorisation has to be given by the manufacturer of vehicles only, not by any manufacturer and the services have to be provided only in relation to vehicles manufactured by that manufacturer — If respondent provided services to vehicle manufactured by other manufacturer for which he is not authorised to provide services, they cannot be held authorised service station vis-à-vis such manufacturer of vehicle and services provided in respect of those vehicles.

The respondents were authorised dealers for vehicles manufactured by General Motors and were covered by the category of authorised service station and they were also registered with the Service Tax Department under the category of Business Auxiliary Services. During the period October 2006 — December 2007, they also undertook servicing of vehicles manufactured by other manufacturers. The Department was of the view that they were liable to pay service tax in respect of such servicing of vehicles i.e., other than General Motors.

Held:

The definition of ‘authorised service station’ includes centre or station authorised by any motor vehicle manufacturer, to carry out any service in respect of vehicles manufactured by such manufacturer i.e., the authorisation has to be given by the manufacturer of vehicles. It was held that authorised service station was required to be authorised for providing services to the vehicles of such manufacturer and not by any manufacturer. Hence the Department’s contention that the service station may be authorised by any manufacturer and services provided by them in respect of vehicles manufactured by other manufacturers for which it was not authorised are to be held taxable, was not accepted.