Case nº Ruling No. AAR/ST/08/2016 in Application No. AAR/44/ST/15/2014 of AAR Cases, March 04, 2016 (case GoDaddy India Web Services Pvt. Ltd. Vs Commissioner of Service Tax)
| Judge | For Appellant: S. Thirumalai, Advocate and For Respondents: Govind Krishna Dixit, (AR) |
| President | V.S. Sirpurkar, J. (Chairman), S.S. Rana, Member (R) and R.S. Shukla, Member (L) |
| Resolution Date | March 04, 2016 |
| Issuing Organization | AAR Cases |
Order:
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GoDaddy India Web Services Private Limited (hereinafter also referred to as applicant) proposes to enter into a 'Services Agreement' with GoDaddy.com, LLC (hereinafter also referred to as 'GoDaddy US') located in Arizona, USA and incorporated in Delaware, USA. GoDaddy US is a domain name registrar and provides other web services to customers across the world. Applicant proposes to provide a gamut of services to its client GoDaddy US. It shall provide support services in an integrated manner to assist GoDaddy US develop its brand in India, carry on its operations efficiently and serve customers in India, which are as under;
a. Marketing and promotion services: Applicant proposes to engage in promotion and marketing of GoDaddy US services in India. This would essentially include increasing the awareness of services provided by GoDaddy US and establishment of the brand GoDaddy in India. Towards this, the applicant proposes to provide the following services:
i. Direct Marketing: Applicant shall advise GoDaddy US regarding various aspects of the market situation prevailing in India from time to time. Applicant would also advise GoDaddy US regarding upcoming events, festivals, holidays in India and accordingly the suitable timing for rolling our campaigns or advertisements in India (either in various social media or by way of dispatch of personal emails to GoDaddy US existing customers in India). The content of advertisement would be prepared by the marketing team of GoDaddy US itself. Also, such advertisement would be directly placed on social media by GoDaddy US. The necessary advice in this regard and said information would be provided from the applicant to GoDaddy US.
ii. Branding Activities: Applicant shall assist GoDaddy US in developing its brand in India by arranging for advertisement activities of GoDaddy US. An independent (third party owned) advertisement agency in India would be appointed by GoDaddy US directly. Such agency would negotiate the price for purchase of time slots or space for display of advertisement in the electronic or print media and coordinate regarding timing for display of the advertisement with Indian advertisement companies. Towards this, the applicant would provide information, advice and support to the marketing team of GoDaddy US regarding various events taking place in India where advertisements can be broadcasted. Also, applicant would suggest to GoDaddy US regarding the locations/geographies in India where banners, billboards could be placed. The advertising agency appointed by GoDaddy US will be solely responsible to arrange required permissions or licenses from any local or State Government authority regarding display of the advertisement at any location or place. The advertisement agencies so employed by GoDaddy US in the entire set of activities aforesaid would be remunerated for all expenses and relevant service charges directly by GoDaddy US and the applicant will have no role to play with regard to appointment of the advertisement agency in India or payment of consideration to the advertisement agency by GoDaddy US.
iii. Offline Marketing: Applicant shall undertake marketing and promotional activities in India for GoDaddy US. Towards this, the applicant shall take part in seminars, talk shows or any other events as speakers to spread awareness regarding the GoDaddy brand and services offered by GoDaddy US. Also, the applicant may conduct road shows, take up a stall in a fair or exhibition, hold webcasts for GoDaddy US channel partners or resellers in India to update them on new developments and services provided by GoDaddy US as per the instructions of GoDaddy US. The applicant may also sponsor specific events or social gatherings in India to reach out to the public for creating awareness of GoDaddy US brand. For this purpose, the applicant shall hire an agency in India which will enable the applicant to undertake the said activities. The said agency will take the required permissions or licenses from the local or State Government authorities or any third party event organizers for conduct of such events. The applicant would remunerate such agency directly for the services rendered by the said agency.
b. Supervision of quality of third party customer care center services:
GoDaddy US intends to provide its customers in India a superior experience and quality services. GoDaddy US also intends to provide the customers with an avenue where the customers have round the clock access to technical support and assistance in relation to the services of GoDaddy US. Towards this, GoDaddy US will directly appoint a third party call centre in India to provide such support and assistance to customers in India. Further, to ensure that the call centre provides the best customer support service and that the employees of the call centre understand the relevant technical aspects, GoDaddy US shall require the applicant to provide oversight of the quality of the services of the call centre. Applicant will have no role to play in selection or appointment of the call centre in India by GoDaddy US. Applicant shall provide oversight of the quality of services rendered by the call centre and prepare a report, if desired by GoDaddy US, regarding the nature of complaints received by the call centre from customers in India so that GoDaddy could better appreciate the technical issues and provide long term solutions to customers.
c. Payment processing services: GoDaddy US will provide its services and products to customers in India through its website. To ensure maximum reach to the customer base in India and enable customers to procure the service without any difficulty in making payments, GoDaddy US desires to provide an online payment facility to its customers in India. Customers who possess an international credit card may make payment directly to GoDaddy US in US Dollars. Customers will also be able to obtain the services by using their Indian credit cards or bank payment facilities and make payments in Indian Rupees ('INR'). To enable customers to pay for services in INR, GoDaddy US proposes the applicant to provide payment processing facilities in India, collect money from the customers of GoDaddy US in India and remit the same to GoDaddy US. Applicant shall outsource the payment collection activity to a third party service provider in India which will provide the necessary payment collection gateway facility to the customers who may wish to effect payments in INR. Applicant proposes to open a separate bank account in India into which the payment collection gateway company will deposit the moneys collected from the customers of GoDaddy US. Further, the applicant may also allow customers to directly deposit money in its bank account using their net banking facility. All such collections from customers (in respect of services...
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