Traveltech firm ixigo receives Rs 1.8 crore GST demand notice

Travel tech company ixigo has received a goods and services tax demand of nearly Rs 89.8 lakh, along with an equivalent penalty, from the Assistant Commissioner of CGST in Gurugram, Haryana.

The notice alleges that ixigo did not pay GST on certain “export of services” that authorities have classified as “intermediary services.”

The total amount sought, including GST and penalty, comes to about Rs 1.8 crore, plus interest. The company said it would appeal the order and believes it has a strong case.

Growing scrutiny on tech firms

The notice to ixigo is part of a series of recent GST demands on new-age tech and fintech companies. Earlier this week, digital payments firm Paytm received a demand of Rs 3.73 crore, in addition to a penalty of an equal amount.

Authorities also imposed a penalty of Rs 1.19 crore on Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications, and Rs 59.94 lakh on its founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Most recently, Deepinder Goyal-led food delivery giant Zomato said that GST authorities dropped a demand of Rs 5.91 crore. The demand, raised by the Additional Commissioner of CGST, Gurugram, was for the period July 2017 to March 2021 and included a Rs 5.91 crore penalty and applicable interest.

Q3FY25 financial highlights

Despite the GST notice, ixigo has reported a strong performance for the quarter ended December 31, 2024. Its revenue from operations rose 42% year-over-year to Rs 241.8 crore, driven by growth in train and flight bookings.

Gross Transaction Value reached Rs 4,036.3 crore, a 48% jump over the previous year. Train bookings grew by 27%, while flights and buses posted even higher growth of 73% and 63%, respectively.

The company’s contribution margin increased 32% to Rs 102.5 crore, and EBITDA rose 36% to Rs 26.6 crore. Adjusted EBITDA grew 25% to Rs 24.3 crore. However, profit after tax fell to Rs 15.5 crore from Rs 30.6 crore in the same quarter last year.

ixigo attributed the drop to a deferred tax expense of Rs 5.9 crore this quarter, compared with a deferred tax gain of Rs 16.8 crore a year ago.