Sections 12(9) and 12(10): Passenger Transport and On-Board Services

Sections 12 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

Two rules for the same conveyance — one for carrying the passenger, one for anything supplied to them while on board — and an Explanation that splits a return ticket into two journeys.

Section 12(9): the place of supply of passenger transportation service to (a) a registered person is the location of such person; to (b) a person other than a registered person, the place where the passenger embarks on the conveyance for a continuous journey. The proviso: where the right to passage is given for future use and the point of embarkation is not known at the time of issue, the place of supply is determined under s.12(2). The Explanation: the return journey shall be treated as a separate journey, even if the right to passage for onward and return is issued at the same time. Section 12(10): the place of supply of services on board a conveyance — vessel, aircraft, train or motor vehicle — is the location of the first scheduled point of departure of that conveyance for the journey.

Section 12(9): the two limbs

To a registered person — the location of that person.

So a company registered in Karnataka booking flights for its employees, on its GSTIN, receives a supply with its place of supply in Karnataka, wherever the flights operate. The airline charges IGST if it is located elsewhere, and the credit is usable by the Karnataka registration.

That is why corporate travel should be booked on the GSTIN. Booked personally and reimbursed, the supply is to an unregistered person under clause (b), the place of supply is the embarkation point, and no credit is available to the company at all.

To an unregistered person — where the passenger embarks for a continuous journey.

"Continuous journey" is defined in s.2(3) of the IGST Act: a journey for which a single or more than one ticket or invoice is issued at the same time, either by a single supplier or through an agent acting for more than one supplier, and which involves no stopover between any of the legs for which one or more separate tickets or invoices are issued.

So the "no stopover" test decides how many journeys there are — and therefore how many embarkation points.

The Explanation: the return leg is its own journey

"For the purposes of this sub-section, the return journey shall be treated as a separate journey, even if the right to passage for onward and return journey is issued at the same time."

So a return ticket is two supplies for place-of-supply purposes.

Delhi to Chennai and back, sold as one ticket to an unregistered passenger:

• the outbound leg has its place of supply at Delhi;
• the return leg has its place of supply at Chennai;
• and the airline must determine and report each accordingly.

For a registered recipient, clause (a) applies to both legs and the place of supply is the customer's location for the whole ticket — so the Explanation does not produce a split.

The practical consequence for transport operators is a reporting one: B2C ticket revenue must be allocated State-wise by embarkation point, leg by leg, and reported in the B2C tables of GSTR-1 on that basis.

The proviso: open-dated and unknown embarkation

"Provided that where the right to passage is given for future use and the point of embarkation is not known at the time of issue of right to passage, the place of supply of such service shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2)."

When it applies: the right to passage is for future use, and the point of embarkation is not known at issue. Both conditions.

What it produces: the s.12(2) default — the registered recipient's location, or for an unregistered recipient, the address on record, failing which the supplier's location.

Where it operates: open tickets, travel vouchers, prepaid passes and similar instruments where the route is chosen later.

And it interacts with the voucher position. Section 12(4) of the CGST Act, dealing with the time of supply of vouchers, was omitted by the Finance Act, 2025 w.e.f. 01.10.2025, so the time-of-supply analysis for vouchers now runs on the ordinary rules. The place of supply analysis for a right to passage remains governed by this proviso. Vouchers under GST →

Section 12(10): services on board

"The place of supply of services on board a conveyance, including a vessel, an aircraft, a train or a motor vehicle, shall be the location of the first scheduled point of departure of that conveyance for the journey."

One test, no registration split. The first scheduled point of departure of the conveyance for the journey.

So on a Mumbai–Delhi–Bagdogra flight, a service supplied on board at any stage has its place of supply at Mumbai — the first scheduled departure point for that journey.

Compare the goods rule. Section 10(1)(e) places goods supplied on board at the location at which the goods are taken on board. So on the same flight:

• a meal or a duty-free item as goods — where it was loaded;
• a service supplied on board — the first scheduled point of departure.

Those can be different places, and the operator has to determine each separately. Section 10(1)(e) →

"For the journey" ties the test to the journey rather than the leg — so an intermediate stop is not a fresh departure point, provided the journey is the same one.

Section 13(10) and 13(11): the cross-border mirrors

Where the supplier or recipient is outside India, s.13 applies and two sub-sections mirror these:

Section 13(10): the place of supply in respect of passenger transportation services shall be the place where the passenger embarks on the conveyance for a continuous journey — with no registration split and no separate-return-journey Explanation.

Section 13(11): the place of supply of services provided on board a conveyance during the course of a passenger transport operation, including services intended to be wholly or substantially consumed while on board, shall be the first scheduled point of departure of that conveyance for the journey.

Two differences worth noting. Section 13(10) has no registered/unregistered split — embarkation governs in every case. And s.13(11) adds the words "intended to be wholly or substantially consumed while on board", which is a slightly different formulation from s.12(10). Section 13(2) →

Key takeaways

• Section 12(9): passenger transport to a registered person — that person's location; otherwise, the embarkation point.
• Book corporate travel on the GSTIN — booked personally, no credit is available at all.
• The return journey is a separate journey, even on one ticket, for an unregistered passenger.
• Where the embarkation point is unknown on a future-use right to passage, s.12(2) applies.
• Section 12(10) places on-board services at the first scheduled point of departure for the journey.
• Goods on board follow s.10(1)(e) — where they were taken on board — a different answer on the same flight.

Read next

• Sections 10(1)(c), (d), (e) and 11: The Remaining Goods Rules
• Section 12(8): Transportation of Goods and the Omitted Proviso
• Section 13(2): The Default Cross-Border Rule
• Vouchers Under GST: Sections 12(4) and 13(4) Omitted

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the IGST Act as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition).