Packed frozen parathas different from plain roti/ chapati; 18 percent GST applicable: Gujarat AAAR

Packed frozen parathas that need to be heated before consumption cannot be considered as plain roti or chapati, and will, therefore, attract 18 percent Goods & Service Tax (GST), the Gujarat Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) ruled..Presiding members Vivek Ranjan and Milind Torawane rejected an appeal by Vadilal Industries against a June 2021 ruling by the Authority for Advance Ruling. "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.".Vadilal told the court that it supplied eight varieties of parathas with the principal ingredient in all the varieties being 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. Aggrieved by this decision, an appeal was filed before the AAAR..Vadilal stressed that their parathas were similar to a roti or chapati which are liable only to 5 per cent GST.However, the AAAR said that compared to a roti, which is ready to eat and does not require any further processing before consumption, the appellant’s products require to be cooked before they could be consumed.The instruction mentioned on the packaging was referred to in this regard, which said 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 that paratha was similar to roti or chapatti, the AAAR said they found only one common ingredient among the two, apart from water, which was the wheat flour. “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,” the order stated. .[Read Order]