FOR THE INFORMATION & BENEFIT OF ALL LPG USERS
http://www.iocl.com/download/Citizen_Charter_IOCL_Final_Ver_6_01_04_13.pdf
Courtesy : Kumar Advani
Author: yazdi
How to Win Your Case in a Consumer Court?
| Noted consumer activist Jehangir Gai, tells you how to be a diligent consumer. A veteran of many victories, he will also explain what is required to lay the foundation for a good case and how to argue it yourself. This will equip you to gain recompense for bad experiences you may have with products and services, from holidays to investments. | |
 Jehangir Gai is a consumer activist based in Mumbai. He has been actively associated with various consumer organizations since 1984-85. He has been fighting for consumer causes even before the Consumer Protection Act was passed. He has been appearing before the District Forums and the State Commission in Maharashtra ever since they were set up in the year 1990. He has been awarded the Government of India’s National Youth Award for Consumer Protection. He has been the Joint Honorary Secretary of the Consumers Welfare Association since the last 10 years and also an Executive Committee Member of the Bombay Telephone Users’ Association. His columns appear in various newspapers and magazines, and he has been speaking on consumer issues at various forums over the years. |
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| Registration: 3pm | |||
| Session Time: 3.30pm to 5.30pm |
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| Venue: Moneylife Foundation Knowledge Centre, 305, 3rd Floor, Hind Service Industries Premises, Off Veer Savarkar Marg, Shivaji Park, Dadar (W), Mumbai – 400 028. Landmark: Chaityabhoomi lane. |
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| NO ADMISSION FEE | |||
| Prior registration is a must | |||
| RIGHT OF ADMISSION RESERVED | |||
Service Tax on Co-operative Society Members
SERVICE TAX ON MEMBER’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Circular No. 175/01/2014-ST dated 10-Jan-2014, issued by Under-Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Finance, contains following points:
(Note: RWA = Resident Welfare Association)
- In a residential complex, monthly contribution collected from members is used by the RWA for the purpose of making payments to the third parties in respect of commonly used services or goods [Example: for providing security service for the residential complex, maintenance or upkeep of common area and common facilities like lift, water pump, health and fitness centre, swimming pool, payment of electricity Bill for the common area and lift, etc.]
- Exemption is provided specifically with reference to service provided by an unincorporated body or a non-profit entity registered under any law for the time being in force such as RWAs, to its own members. However, a monetary ceiling has been prescribed for this exemption, calculated in the form of five thousand rupees per month per member contribution to the RWA, for sourcing of goods or services from third person for the common use of its members.
- If per month per member contribution of any or some members of a RWA exceeds five thousand rupees, the entire contribution of such members whose per month contribution exceeds five thousand rupees would be ineligible for the exemption under the said notification. Service tax would then be leviable on the aggregate amount of monthly contribution of such members.
- This tax has been in effect since 2005. At that time, exemption ceiling was Rs. 3000.
This circular mentions only RWAs i.e. our CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETIES. However the same principle is also applied to club memberships, membership fees of associations and chambers of commerce, etc.
Such service tax collection has been struck down by service tax tribunals and high courts under the principle that where every member is a share-holder and every share-holder is a member, there is no provision of service from one entity to another.
Most of us are un-able or un-willing to fight it out in court. However, the least we can do is to ask for a refund after paying the tax.
M. B. Damania.
2014 Jul.10.
Companies cannot reject claim for hospitalization intimation failure
Claim cannot be rejected for failure to intimate hospitalization in medical emergency. Consumer forum directs recovery of compensation from erring officials
The forum held both the insurance company and the TPA guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice. It ordered payment of the claim amount of Rs 1,58,174 along with 9% interest from August 31, 2010. Additionally, the forum awarded Rs 8,000 as compensation for harassment and agony, and Rs 3,000 as costs.
The forum also directed an inquiry to be conducted and the compensation of Rs 8,000 proportionately recovered from the salaries of those officers who are found guilty of causing harassment and indulging in unfair practice. A compliance report must be filed within six months.
Impact: Maximum number of complaints at the level of the district forum are against insurance companies. Yet, there is no improvement in the attitude of insurance company officials because compensation is paid by the firm for their misdeeds. A change can be expected only if compensation pinches the pockets of erring officials. Hopefully, this judgment should start the beginning of a practice that could bring about a change in the system and compel insurance companies to behave responsibly.
Click Here for full details of the case and the judgement – Jehangir Gai – Times of India 070714
Service Tax applicable on Maintenance Charges collected by Society ?
Please find below the circular no. 175/01/14-ST dated 10.01.2014. Service tax is not applicable on maintenance charge collected by society [limit Rs5000 per month]. Emphasis added.
Dr. P.K.Banerjee
______________________________________________________________________________
Circular No.175 /01 /2014 – ST
F. No.354/237/2013-TRU
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise& Customs
Tax Research Unit
North Block, New Delhi
10th January, 2014
To
Chief Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All), Director General (Service Tax), Director General (CentralExcise Intelligence), Director General (Audit), Commissioners of Service Tax (All), Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax (All).
Madam/Sir,
Subject: Levy of service tax on services provided by a Resident Welfare Association (RWA) to its own members – regarding.
Service tax on ‘club or association service’ which covers Resident Welfare Association (RWA) was introduced with effect from 16.06.2005, vide section 65(105)(zzze) read with section 65(25a)[(25a) was later renumbered as (25aa)]. Under the positive list approach which was followed prior to 1st July 2012, exemption was available under notification No. 8/2007-ST dated 01.03.2007, if the total consideration received from an individual member by the RWA for the services does not exceed three thousand rupees per month. This notification was rescinded vide notification No. 34/2012-ST dated 20th June 2012, with effect from 1st July, 2012.
2. Under the negative list approach, with effect from 1stJuly, 2012, notification No.25/2012-ST [sl.no.28 (c)] provides for exemption to service by a RWA to its own members by way of reimbursement of charges or share of contribution up to five thousand rupees per month per member for sourcing of goods or services from a third person for the common use of its members.
Certain doubts have been raised regarding the scope of the present exemption extended to RWAs under the negative list approach. These doubts have been examined and clarifications are given below:
| Sl. No. | Doubt | Clarification |
| (i) In a residential complex, monthly contribution collected from members is used by the RWA for the purpose of making payments to the third parties, in respect of commonly used services or goods [Example: for providing security service for the residential complex, maintenance or upkeep of common area and common facilities like lift, water sump, health and fitness centre, swimming pool, payment of electricity Bill for the common area and lift, etc.]. Is service tax leviable?
(ii) If the contribution of a member/s of a RWA exceeds five thousand rupees per month, how should the service tax liability becalculated? |
Exemption at Sl. No. 28 (c) in notification No. 25/2012-ST is provided specifically with reference to service provided by an unincorporated body ora non–profit entity registered under any law for the time being in force such as RWAs, to its own members.
However, a monetary ceiling has been prescribed for this exemption, calculated in the form of five thousand rupees per month per member contribution to the RWA, for sourcing of goods or services from third person for the common use of its members.
If per month per member contribution of any or some members of a RWA exceeds five thousand rupees, the entire contribution of such members whose per month contribution exceeds five thousand rupees would be ineligible for the exemption under the said notification. Service tax would then be leviable on the aggregate amount of monthly contribution of such members. |
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| (i) Is threshold exemption under notification No. 33/2012-ST available to RWA?
(ii) Does ‘aggregate value’ for the pusrpose of threshold exemption, include the value of exempt service?
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Threshold exemption available under notification No. 33/2012-ST is applicable to a RWA, subject to conditions prescribed in the notification. Under this notification, taxable services of aggregate value not exceeding ten lakh rupees in any financial year is exempted from service tax. As per the definition of ‘aggregate value’ provided in Explanation B of the notification, aggregate value does not include the value of services which are exempt from service tax. | |
| If a RWA provides certain services such as payment of electricity or water bill issued by third person, in the name of its members, acting as a ‘pure agent’ of its members, is exclusion from value of taxable service available for the purposes of exemptions provided in Notification 33/2012-ST or 25/2012-ST ? | In Rule 5(2) of the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006, it is provided that expenditure or costs incurred by a service provider as a pure agent of the recipient of service shall be excluded from the value of taxable service, subject to the conditions specified in the Rule.
For illustration, where the payment for an electricity bill raised by an electricity transmission or distribution utility in the name of the owner of an apartment in respect of electricity consumed thereon, is collected and paid by the RWA to the utility, without charging any commission or a consideration by any other name, the RWA is acting as a pure agent and hence exclusion from the value of taxable service would be available. However, in the case of electricity bills issued in the name of RWA, in respect of electricity consumed for common use of lifts, motor pumps for water supply, lights in common area, etc., since there is no agent involved in these transactions, the exclusion from the value of taxable service would not be available. |
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| Is CENVAT credit available to RWA for payment of service tax? | RWA may avail cenvat credit and use the same for payment of service tax, in accordance with the Cenvat Credit Rules. |
3. Trade Notice/ Public Notice to be issued. Hindi version to follow.
[Raj Kumar Digvijay]
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Do you know how to file an RTI plea?
How to file an RTI plea
The Act prescribes a simple procedure to obtain information. Though some public authorities have their own formats, there is no compulsion to stick to the prescribed format
Step 1: Identify the department you want information from. Some subjects fall under the purview of State governments or local authority such as the municipal administration/panchayat, while others are handled by the Central government
Step 2: On a sheet of white paper, write out the application by hand, or type it, in English, Hindi or the official language of the area. You can also ask the public information officer to put it in writing
Step 3: Address the application to the State/Central Public Information Officer. Write the name of the office from which you seek information, and the complete, correct address. Clearly mention ‘Seeking information under the RTI Act, 2005’ in your subject line
Step 4: State your request in the form of specific, detailed questions, and mention the period/year your request falls into. Ask for documents or extracts of documents, if required. To obtain documents, the applicant has to make a payment of Rs. 2 per page
Step 5: Pay Rs. 10 to file the plea. This can be done in the form of cash, money order, bank draft or a court fee stamp. The stamp should be affixed to the application. Applicants below the poverty line (BPL) need not make the payment but have to attach a copy of the BPL certificate along with the application
Step 6: Provide your full name and address, contact details, email address and sign the application clearly. Put in the date and the name of your town
Step 7: Take a photocopy of the application and keep one with you for future reference. Send your application by post or hand it in personally to the department concerned. Don’t forget to get an acknowledgement
Step 8: The law mandates that information be provided in 30 days. If this does not happen, you can file an appeal. The first appeal should be addressed to ‘The Appellate Authority’ with the name of the department and the address. The appellate authority is mandated to revert in 30 days from the date of receipt of the appeal. If the Appellate authority fails to reply, further appeals lie with the Information Commission, the Chief Information Commissioner, State/Central Information Commission
Compiled by Zubeda Hamid; graphics by Satwik Gade
Click Here to read more of this article
The World’s Biggest Election Graphic
815 Million Voters
9,30,000 Polling Booths
Elections spread over 9 days
16.5 Million people will help conduct the elections
India has 300 Million more voters than the next 3 largest democracies (US, Indonesia & Brazil) combined !
Click on the image to get the full graphic
Housing societies adopt green ways
Housing societies adopt green ways to save cost
The Nyati Environ Cooperative Housing Society in Tingrenagar has managed to reduce its monthly electricity bill by half, simply by tweaking its power plans and adopting a greener behaviour. Installation of an energy-efficient sewage treatment plant, replacing tube lights with compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) or light emitting diode (LED), efficient management of elevators and other common appliances has brought down their electricity consumption significantly.
In fact, the residents do not have to use geysers as solar panels installed in the society provide hot water to the 400-odd households. The society also recycles water and practices vermiculture.
Nyati is one of the 50 randomly selected housing societies in the city selected by the Green Energy Foundation (GEF), a city-based NGO, to study energy consumption patterns of residential societies in the city. GEF advised 25 of them on ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
In fact, the residents do not have to use geysers as solar panels installed in the society provide hot water to the 400-odd households. The society also recycles water and practices vermiculture.
Nyati is one of the 50 randomly selected housing societies in the city selected by the Green Energy Foundation (GEF), a city-based NGO, to study energy consumption patterns of residential societies in the city. GEF advised 25 of them on ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
Click Here for the full story
Pineapple Juice Is 5 Times More Effective Than Cough Syrup
Pineapples contain bromelain, an enzyme with anti-inflammatory properties. It fights infections and kills bacteria. The juice from fresh pineapples can suppress coughs five times more effectively than cough syrup. 
One cup of pineapple juice contains nearly 50% of the daily requirement for vitamin C intake. This helpful nutrient works to implement the use of vital enzymes within the body that regulate metabolism and energy conversion.
Pineapple juice also contains high levels of manganese, a mineral that predominately helps form healthy connective tissue and bones. Manganese works to absorb more calcium, metabolize carbohydrates and fats, plus increases regular nerve function.
Some bromelain appears to be absorbed by the body intact, so it’s also thought to have effects outside the digestive tract. In fact, bromelain is often marketed as a natural anti-inflammatory for conditions such as arthritis. It’s one of the most popular supplements in Germany, where it is approved for the treatment of inflammation and swelling of the nose and sinuses due to surgery or injury.
If you have one of many types of persistent coughs and it’s not something more serious like pneumonia, reach for pineapple juice instead of cough syrup. It’s less expensive, has no toxic chemicals and contains the nutrients that will help fight a cold.
Click Here for more details
Can’t find the missing file? Go, reconstruct it!
Information Commissioners usually ask PIOs to lodge an FIR in the police station in case a file goes missing. In one case under the RTI, the CIC asked the PIO to ‘reconstruct’ the missing file to facilitate justice to a doctor allegedly involved in a criminal case
When Jugal Kishore, a Delhi resident asked for the file pertaining to a show cause notice of one Dr Prashant Kumar of Lok Nayak Hospital, he was denied information by the Public Information Officer (PIO) stating that the file was ‘missing’. When Kishore went in for an appeal, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) ignored his request. He then filed asecond appeal to the Central Information Commissioner (CIC).
The CIC ordered the PIO and FAA to search for the ‘missing’ file and lodge a first information report (FIR) at the police station about the missing file. Two years went by and yet the file could not be found and FIR was also not lodged. Considering that Dr Kumar’s fate lay in the finding of that file, CIC M Sridhar Acharyulu in a historic decision asked the hospital to ‘reconstruct’ the missing file in February 2014.
The CIC stated, “Earlier, the Commission did not direct the Respondent to recreate the file. Since the Commission found that Respondent Authority was not successful in tracingthe file, it is necessary in the interest of providing required information by the Appellant, which might help him prove the innocence of Dr Prashant Kumar, directs the PIO to collect the information from different sources to reconstruct the file of Dr Prashant Kumar as far as possible. The Appellant too offered to cooperate with the PIO in reconstructing the necessary documents to prepare the file of Dr Prashant Kumar.”
Following is the chronology of this interesting RTI case as projected in theCIC order of 24 February 2014.
The CIC ordered the PIO and FAA to search for the ‘missing’ file and lodge a first information report (FIR) at the police station about the missing file. Two years went by and yet the file could not be found and FIR was also not lodged. Considering that Dr Kumar’s fate lay in the finding of that file, CIC M Sridhar Acharyulu in a historic decision asked the hospital to ‘reconstruct’ the missing file in February 2014.
The CIC stated, “Earlier, the Commission did not direct the Respondent to recreate the file. Since the Commission found that Respondent Authority was not successful in tracingthe file, it is necessary in the interest of providing required information by the Appellant, which might help him prove the innocence of Dr Prashant Kumar, directs the PIO to collect the information from different sources to reconstruct the file of Dr Prashant Kumar as far as possible. The Appellant too offered to cooperate with the PIO in reconstructing the necessary documents to prepare the file of Dr Prashant Kumar.”
Following is the chronology of this interesting RTI case as projected in theCIC order of 24 February 2014.
- Kishore filed an RTI application dt.9.4.12 with the PIO, Lok Nayak Hospital (under Section 7 of the RTI Act) seeking information against nine points with regard to show cause notice issued to Dr Prashant Kumar He had also filed another RTI application regarding payments made to Dr Kumar
- On not receiving any reply for both his applications he filed an appeal the Appellate Authority reiterating his request for information
- The Appellant, Kishore, made a second appeal stating that PIO has made it a standard practice to say records are not available and FAA has made it a practice not to respond or give any hearing.
- During the hearing, Dr Deepak Kumar Singh, Respondent Officer submitted that records pertaining to Dr Prashant Kumar are not available. Kishore submitted that since Dr Prashant is in prison, he is seeking information on behalf of Dr Prashant Kumar.
- Kishore submitted that CIC had ordered the Appellate Authority to conduct an enquiry u/s 18(2) of the RTI Act into the whereabouts of the missing personal file of Dr Prashant Kumar. The relevant portion of the order had stated: “…the Commission believes that it will be in the interest of the appellant to remand the case back to the First Appellate Authority with a direction that he/ she conduct an enquiry as per provisions u/s 18(2) of the RTI Act into the whereabouts of the missing personal file of Dr Prashant Kumar, fix the responsibility and take appropriate action against the official found guilty of having misplaced the file. The enquiry report as also the report on action taken based on the outcome of the enquiry to be shared with the Appellant within four weeks of receipt of this order. An FIR too may be lodged with the police about the missing file once it is confirmed that the file remains untraceable. A copy of the FIR may be shared with the Appellant.” However, the hospital did not comply by the order”.
- The FAA informed the Commission that she had directed Dr Manju Mehra, AMS (Admn) to file an FIR. Dr Manju Mehra, AMS (Admn) informed the Commission that she had not filed the FIR with the police, since she felt that once the enquiry is over the filecan be reconstructed.
- Since the AMS (Admin) has given the reason for not lodging the FIR, the Commission directed that now that the enquiry has been conducted and enquiry report shared with the Appellant, the FIR may be lodged as directed by the Commission with the concerned branch of Delhi Police and copy of FIR share with the Appellant which was done.
- All through Kishore reiterated that Dr Prashant Kumar was implicated in a criminal caseand when he sought details of information from personal file of Dr Prashant Kumar which was not made available to him since 2012. The CIC order states, “He filed series of RTI applications and the matter came before Information Commissioner in 2012. The Respondent Authority did not comply with the directions of the Commission. The Appellant filed a non-compliance petition and Commission took a very serious objection and warned the Respondent with serious action considering that as willful violation of law. The Appellant pleaded that this information would help him to prove the innocence of Dr Prashant Kumar in a criminal case implicated by certain persons in the Public Authority. The Appellant also cited fact of missing file and non-compliance of CIC orders as indicators of biased action against Dr Prashant Kumar.”
CIC concluded in its order, “This case assumes very serious propositions and it affects the liberty of Dr Prashant Kumar who is totally depending on the discovery of missed file. There is a delay of more than two years in either tracing the file or fixing up the responsibility. The so-called enquiry conducted did not yield any result. Hence, the Commission is compelled to recommend that the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to conduct an independent enquiry without involving officers of Respondent Public Authority and giving an opportunity to Appellant to provide his allegations against some of the officers of Public Authority and to provide innocence of Dr Prashant Kumar. The entire exercise is to be completed within two months of receipt of this order. A copy of the enquiry report along with the action taken shall be shared with the Appellant and the Commission within two weeks of completion of the exercise.”
The deadline for the enquiry report to be submitted to CIC is April.
Earlier, in a similar case, Shailesh Gandhi, the then Central Information Commissioner, on 29 July 2009 had directed the PIO to give a copy of the reconstructed file created by using papers and communications received by the appellant.
(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife, an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book “To The Last Bullet – The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart – Ashok Kamte” with Vinita Kamte and is the author of “The Mighty Fall”.)
http://www.moneylife.in/article/cant-find-the-%20missing-file-go-reconstruct-it/36921.html
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