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2. Amazon Internet Services Pvt. Ltd.2 is engaged in providing data hosting services and marketing services to Amazon Web Services, Inc. USA 3 under the Data Services Agreement 4 and Marketing Services Agreement dated 1.07.2013. The data hosting services entail the management, operation and maintenance of data centres. AWSI with its principal place of business in America is engaged in the business of providing cloud computing services to customers around the world.

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computer, power, database, storage, applications, and other IT resources via, the internet with pay-as -you-go pricing. AWSI as one of the cloud computing service providers, offers over 200 fully featured services for a wide range of technologies, industries and use cases to its customers. One of the key characteristics of AWSI services is that it is self service and on demand which means that IT resources are readily accessible to users and anyone wishing to use such resources could go online right now, sign up and immediately start accessing the AWSI services. The cloud computing services are provided by AWSI to the customers around the world, including India pursuance to the Customer agreement between AWSI and such customers on principal to principal basis. Data hosting service is merely one of many input POPS Rules The Appellant AWSI DSA services that AWSI acquires to enable it to develop and provide cloud computing services to its customers.

3.1.2 The cloud computing service providers generally enter into contract with data hosting service providers to use their data centres for hosting cloud computing services. Data hosting service provider either owns premises for data centre or operates data centre on leased premises, procures infrastructure and human resource, handles operations like infrastructure monitoring, IT management and equipment maintenance, etc. to provide the said supply of data hosting services to the cloud computing service providers. The data hosting service provider generally handles all aspects of data centre like rent, software and hardware infrastructure, power, net connectivity, security, human resource, etc. Importantly, the data hosting service providers do not deal with end users/consumers of cloud computing services and may not even know about the end users.
3.1.3 It is observed that data hosting service provider provides data hosting services to the cloud computing service provider on a web platform through computing and networking equipment for the purpose of collecting, storing, processing, distributing, or allowing access to large amounts of data. The cloud computing service provider provides cloud-based applications and software services to various end users/customers/subscribers for data storage, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, processing, database analysis and deployment services, etc.. The end users/customers/subscribers access cloud computing services seamlessly over the internet through technology hosted on data centers. There appears to be no contact between data Page 3 of 5 hosting service provider and the end users/ consumers/ subscribers of the overseas cloud computing service provider. Thus, it is observed that the data hosting service provider provides data hosting services to the cloud computing service provider on principal-to- principal basis on his own account and is not acting as a broker or agent for facilitating supply of service between cloud computing service providers and their end users/consumers.

" In accordance with the above guiding principles, services provided by the following persons will qualify as „intermediary services‟- 

            (i)      Travel Agent (any mode of travel)
            (ii)     Tour Operator
            (iii)    Commission agent for a service [an
                     agent for buying or selling of goods is
                     excluded]
            (iv)     Recovery Agent."

24. The allegation made by the revenue that Indian customers access cloud computing services from AWSI via appellant‟s data server facility and, therefore, the appellant facilitates the provision of cloud services for its customers from AWSI is not the scope of services. The data hosting service is one of the inputs for the provision of cloud computing services by AWSI.