Telecommunication Companies Entitled to CENVAT Credit on Shelters, Tower Parts, Printers, and Chairs, SC Upholds Delhi HC Order

Today (November 20, 2024), the Supreme Court (SC) bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh allowed appeals filed by various telecommunication companies such as Vodafone Idea, Airtel, and Tata Telecommunications against the orders stating that they were not entitled to CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax) credit on printers, chairs, shelters, and tower parts. The bench upheld the 2021 order of the Delhi High Court (HC) that allowed telecommunication companies to take CENVAT credit on these items. The order reads, “We have allowed the appeals in the main matter as well as connected matters by the companies. We have upheld the 2021 Delhi High Court decision and have set aside the Bombay High Court decision of 2014 in Bharti Airtel.” The primary question involved in the case was, whether tower parts, shelters, and certain other items qualify as "capital goods" or "inputs" under the Central Value Added Tax/ CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 and whether towers can be considered components of capital goods.