Case Of: M/s Flemingo Duty Free Shop Pvt Ltd
Issued By: Madras High Court
Order No: W.A No. 674 of 2023
Date: 29th April 2025
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GST Not Payable on Concession Fees by Duty-Free Shops at Airports
Flemingo operated duty-free shops at Chennai Airport under a concession agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
AAI raised invoices including GST on concession fees; Flemingo argued supplies were zero-rated under Section 16 of the IGST Act.
GST was paid under protest, and the company approached Madras High Court, securing an interim stay on further GST liability.
A single judge held GST was not payable before April 2021; post-April 2021, payment was allowed with refund under Section 54 of the CGST Act, citing revenue neutrality. This was challenged by the government through a writ petition.
In the writ petition, the government argued that tax must be paid even for zerorated supplies, followed by a refund claim as per statutory provisions.
The respondent contended that refund procedures create unnecessary compliance burden without any gain to the exchequer and AAI had itself sought refund without recovering GST from the company.
The division bench confirmed that the supplies were zero-rated and held there was no reason to interfere with the single judge’s ruling.
The appeal was dismissed; authorities were allowed to examine revenue neutrality for the pre-April 2021 period, and AAI’s refund was directed to be processed within four weeks with interest.