Service Tax on Services provided by Haj Committee/Haj Group Organizers —– The petitioners sought clarification about the liability of Haj Group Organizers (HGOs) or Private Tour Operators (PTOs) to pay service tax on the service rendered by them to Haj pilgrims for the Haj pilgrimage. The petitioner counsel submitted that paragraph 5(b) of the mega exemption notification grants exemption to the services provided by persons by way of conduct of any religious ceremony. The court observed that the Haj Committee is a statutory committee which is entrusted with various functions for the welfare of Haj pilgrims. The object of exemption in paragraph 5A of the Mega Exemption Notification is to promote the activity of the specified organisations of rendering service for the religious pilgrimage. Both the organisations which are specified in the notification are statutory organisations over which the Government has an effective control. Moreover, the service rendered by the specified organisations to the devotees is not with the object of making profit. Services Tax/GST exemption on services provided by a specified organization in respect of a religious pilgrimage facilitated by Government of India under bilateral arrangement are not discriminatory and not violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The service of organizing and conduct of tour for Haj/Umrah pilgrims by private tour operators is taxable under GST. It is not covered under any of the existing exemptions from GST. Therefore, the request to not levy GST or to clarify that GST is not leviable on the same is not acceptable. As regards the request for exemption GST on the services of Haj and Umrah tour provided by Haj Group Operators [Private Tour Operators], the same has no merit. The private tour operators supply such services on purely commercial basis to pilgrims who can afford it. GST is an indirect tax. The burden of the tax is not on the suppliers but on the recipients. The service was taxable in Service Tax also.

Held that:- The Hon’ble Court dismissed the petitions as there is no merit in the challenge in the petitions.