Hookahs cannot be considered as composite service of restaurants, rules WB AAR

New Delhi, March 5 -- In a landmark ruling which will have far-reaching implications on the country's eateries and drinking dens, the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) - GST of West Bengal has recently ruled that restaurants and bars cannot "put food, drinks and smoking hookahs within the same bracket" even when they are served in the same table in a restaurant or a bar.

It also ruled that there is no justification for a composite tax of 5 per cent under Clause 6(b) of Schedule II of the CGST rules.

Disposing an application seeking advance ruling by a restaurant brand, Pappu Chaiwala, the AAR observed that the phrase "any other article of human consumption" appearing in Clause 6 (b) of Schedule II of CGST cannot include tobacco or non-to...