Registration for People Supplying Online Information from Outside India


Registration for People Supplying Online Information from Outside India

What does online information and database access or retrieval services mean?

Online information and database access or retrieval services [OIDAR] means services whose delivery is mediated through the internet. The supply is essentially automated involving minimal human intervention and impossible without information technology.

On whom will this apply?
These are a few examples of electronic services from the service tax list which will be considered as OIDAR-

  • Advertising on internet
  • Providing cloud services (Google Drive)
  • Provision of e-books, movie, music, software and other intangibles via internet (Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video)
  • Providing data or information, retrievable or otherwise, to any person, in electronic form through a computer network;
  • Online gaming (Steam)
  • Web-based services providing trade statistics, legal and financial data, matrimonial services, social networking sites etc.

Non-OIDAR services

  • Supplies of goods, where the order and processing is done electronically
  • Supplies of physical books, newsletters, newspapers or journals
  • Services of lawyers and financial consultants who advise clients through email
  • Booking services or tickets to entertainment events, hotel accommodation or car hire
  • Educational or professional courses, where the content is delivered by a teacher over the internet
  • Offline physical repair services of computer equipment
  • Repair of software, or of hardware, through the internet, from a remote location
  • Advertising services in newspapers, on posters and on television
  • Internet backbone services and internet access services (BSNL broadband)

It has also been clarified that using the internet just to communicate or facilitate outcome of service need does not always mean that a business is providing OIDAR services.


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