Page 42 - GSTL_16th July 2020_Vol. 38_Part 3

J84 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 38
the survivor, it often provides support in the form of a reimbursement of Court
fee, lawyers’ fee or medical expenses, including hospitalisation or psychiatric
counselling. Financial support is also extended for the remuneration of trainers
and charges of facilitators for trainings and workshops. Survivors are not
charged for any of these services, and the trust meets all such expenses from out
of donations received and from the interest on deposits.
The Bench observed that the applicant assists women survivors in vari-
ous ways to get back on their feet. “Such survivors of sexual and other violence
need services like legal aid, medical assistance, and vocational training. The re-
cipient of such services is, therefore, not the applicant but the survivor woman,”
the AAR said.
Further, the AAR observed that if the survivor pays the lawyer’s fee and
the payment is reimbursed by Swayam, it becomes a kind of financial support to
the survivor. For such a payment, the applicant is “not liable to pay GST based
on reverse charge mechanism on such payments”, observed the AAR. The Au-
thority noted that the applicant has not charged any fee on the survivor for facili-
tating legal aid or any other assistance.
“The applicant’s activities do not amount to ‘supply’ of service, neither is
it a recipient of the services for which it often provides financial assistance to
women survivors of sexual and other violence. The applicant is, therefore, not
liable to pay GST on the activities described in the application,” AAR ruled.
[Source : Business Line, Chennai, dated 11-7-2020]

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