Page 154 - GSTL_13th August 2020_Vol 39_Part 2

240 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 39
(16) Two supplies are naturally bundled - It is stated that the two afore-
mentioned supplies made by the Applicant to its customers are nat-
urally bundled and supplied in conjunction with one another in or-
dinary course of business. That the objective of a customer to pro-
cure a printed trade advertisement from the Applicant to procure
such goods (trade advertisement) which are used to promote the
products/business of the customer by using the same. It is submit-
ted that such objective of advertisement cannot be served by sup-
plying PVC material (blank) which does not communicate any mes-
sage about the products of the customer and neither can a message
on standalone basis, without being printed on any medium such as
PVC material (blank), serve the purpose of trade advertisements by
means of printed goods like billboards, banners, building wraps,
etc.
(17) The Hon’ble Authority for Advance Ruling in the case of Re : Giriraj
Renewables Private Limited, 2018 (9) TMI 1183 = 2018 (17) G.S.T.L. 156
(App. A.A.R. - GST), tried to analyze the scope of a ‘composite sup-
ply’ and held that when there are two taxable supplies - one of
goods and the other of services and they both are naturally bundled
and it is natural and also a practice to expect that the contractor who
will supply the goods will also supply the services along with it.
The relevant extract of the ruling is reproduced below :
“In order to understand the scope of a ‘composite supply’ and also
to know what may be the criteria to judge a supply as a ‘composite
supply’, the CBIC has published an e-flier on the subject. As per the
e-flier, ‘Composite supply’ entails the concept of ‘naturally bundled
supply’, and whether services are bundled in the ordinary course of
business would depend upon the normal or frequent practice fol-
lowed in the area of business. It also says that in order to qualify for
a composite supply one of the characteristic would be that ‘none of
the individual constituents are able to provide the essential charac-
ter of the service’. What is the normal frequent practice in the trade
can be ascertained from the following indicators,
• The participation of the consumer or the service receiver. If
large number of service receivers of such bundle of services
reasonably expect such services to be provided as a package,
then such a package could be treated as naturally bundled in
the ordinary course of business.
• Majority of service provider in a particular area of business
provide similar bundled of services.
• The nature of the various services in a bundle of services will
also help in determining whether the services are bundled in
the ordinary course of business. If the nature of services is
such that one of the services is the main service and the other
services combined with such service are in the nature of inci-
dental or ancillary services which help in better enjoyment of a
main service.
• The other instructive indicators can be the following :-
(a) There is a single price or the customers pays the same
amount.
GST LAW TIMES  13th August 2020  154