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Informist, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court has upheld a Delhi High Court's September order that the agreement with foreign universities for providing education consultation services to students who intend to travel abroad are exports of services and, hence, liable for goods and tax refunds on the same. The top court asked the tax department to process a refund along with statutory interest to Global Opportunities Pvt. Ltd in two months, noting that the earnings by the company were not intermediary services under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

 

In September, the high court had said that Global Opportunities was engaged by foreign universities for providing consultancy services to students in India and upon the said students obtaining education, the company raised invoices in either Indian rupees or foreign currency upon the universities. Global Opportunities then received foreign exchange payment from the universities, said the high court. This relationship between Global Opportunities and the universities cannot be held to be an intermediary service as the former is working as an educational consultant and may be rendering services which may further the cause of the universities but is not an agent of the latter, said the high court.

 

"Accordingly, this court holds that the respondent's services when rendered to foreign universities and the earnings being in foreign exchange would not constitute intermediary services," said the high court. Thus, 'intermediary services' are no longer services for which the place of location of the supplier would be deemed as the place of supply, said the high court. Even for such services the place of the recipient of the services would be the place of supply as per Section 13(2) of the 2017 Act, said the high court. The confusion that was prevalent relating to intermediaries and their entitlement to claim benefits on the basis of export of services is eliminated, the high court added.

 

The tax department had argued that Global Opportunities was nothing but an 'intermediary' in terms of the 2017 Act. Global Opportunities acting as an 'intermediary' was not qualified for exemption from payment of goods and services as its services do not constitute export of services.  End 

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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