The Authority for Advance Rulings, Tamil Nadu in the case of M/S. MEHRA COMPUTER SYSTEMS LIMITED. vide Case No.- TN/04/ARA/2025 dated 12.02.2025, has ruled that printing services provided to educational institutions for examination purposes are exempt from GST. This includes services related to both pre-examination e.g., question papers, hall tickets) and post-examination (e.g., mark sheets, certificates) activities.
Facts of the Case: In this case, the applicant is engaged in Printing of pre-examination materials such as hall tickets, question papers, OMR sheets, and answer booklets, Printing of post-examination materials like mark sheets, degree certificates, grade/rank sheets, Scanning and result processing services using OMR technologies. These services are rendered to educational institutions (universities, boards, colleges), and involve content/design provided by the educational institution. The activity involves
Issue: Whether services such as printing question papers, OMR sheets, hall tickets, and mark sheets for universities and educational institutions are exempt under GST. Whether the supply is composite in nature, and if so, what is the principal supply?
Ruling of AAR: The AAR determined that the applicant’s services constitute a composite supply, where the principal supply is the printing service. This involves printing content provided by educational institutions on materials supplied by the applicant. The contract is not for purchasing blank paper but for customized printing of examination-related documents.
The AAR noted that Serial No. 66(b)(iv) of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), services provided to educational institutions relating to admission to, or conduct of examination are exempt from GST. The AAR confirmed that the applicant’s services fall under this category and are therefore exempt. In its support, Circular No. 151/07/2021-GST clarifies that services such as online testing, result publication, and printing of examination-related materials provided to educational boards are exempt from GST. This supports the AAR’s ruling in favor of the applicant.
