Franchise

To infer a franchise under S. 2(12a) of Federal Excise Act, 2005 necessary ingredients are namely, (i) authority by franchiser, (ii) resultant right acquired by franchisee, (iii) franchised service or product, (iv) fee therefor and (v) identification of product or service with franchiser.

Assessee was aggrieved of order passed by Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue maintaining order of authorities and assessee was required to pay excise duty on services

Validity

Fee charged for technical services was not per se ground to infer a franchise, when neither S.2(12a) of Federal Excise Act, 2005, so prescribed nor was such a business reality

Name 'technical fee' or 'fee for technical assistance' were mere convenient labels and no more

When two companies charged technical fee for telecommunication network support activities to mobile companies, software companies charge technical fee for customized software deployed in networks, a maintenance and operations service provider charged technical fee to solar power projects, none of such were franchise relationships

Franchise as defined in S.2(12a) of Federal Excise Act, 2005 based on label given in a company's accounts to fee received for services was tantamount to rewriting S.2(12a) of Federal Excise Act, 2005, in its entirety

Television Channel in question was not a franchised service and was not caught by S.2(12a) of Federal Excise Act, 2005

Reference was allowed accordingly.

Franchise agreement allowed the franchisee the right to use the mark or patent of a franchisor for a royalty or fee and the franchisee must ensure that the goods or services maintained the uniformity and standard of the franchisor's goods or services

Franchisor provided technical assistance and know-how to protect its mark or patent so as to ensure uniformity in quality and therefore, a franchisor shared its business model with all relevant details so that the franchisee could use the patent, logo or mark of the franchisor and maintain the standard, style, quality and look of the product or services provided, as if it was given by the franchisor itself

Franchisor must grant the franchisee the right to use its patent or mark or logo, that was its intellectual property, to the extent necessary to operate the franchisee business

Franchisor also provided the assistance and know-how in support of the business and helped solve problems along the way.

Franchise Franchise-Women's-History.