The Gujarat Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling(AAAR) ruled that the packed frozen parathas that need to be heated before consumption cannot be considered as plain roti or chapati and will attract 18 percent GST.
The Presiding members Vivek Ranjan and Milind Torawane have rejected an appeal by Vadilal Industries against a June 2021 ruling by the Authority for Advance Ruling.
The ruling that the parathas supplied by the appellant are different from plain chapati or roti and cannot be treated as or covered under the category of plain chapatti or roti and appropriate classification of parathas would be under chapter heading 2106.
The petitioner Vadilal told the court that they have eight varieties of parathas that are made of wheat flour, along with water, edible vegetable oil, salt, antioxidant, etc.
The Gujarat Authority of Advance Ruling had held that 18 per cent GST was applicable to their products. Vadilal had moved to AAAR and appealed before them.
The petitioner Vadilal stressed the paratha that they sell are similar to a roti or chapati which are liable only to 5 per cent GST.
However, the AAAR said there is no comparison to be drawn as the roti is ready to eat ,whereas the paratha in question require to be cooked before they could be consumed.
The packaging as per AAAR mentions that the process of 3-4 minutes of heating amounts to cooking of the parathas since their colour changes and the frozen parathas become ready for consumption.
With respect to Vadilal’s contention the only similarity was one common ingredient among the two, apart from water, which was the wheat flour.
The order this said that it is clear that on the basis of ingredients used in the appellant’s product and roti or chapati, composition of both are very different from each other and thus the GST will be as mentioned.