Tvl. Metro Computers, the applicant, contested the assessment order based on all the prior notices that have been uploaded only on the GST portal under the “View Additional Notices and Orders” section.
The applicant was not informed about these notices and, therefore, cannot submit a reply in time. They said that they desired to file 25% of the disputed tax and asked for the chance to show their case afresh.
The bench said that “No doubt, sending notice by uploading in portal is a sufficient service, but, the Officer who is sending the repeated reminders, inspite of the fact that no response from the petitioner to the show cause notices etc., the Officer should have applied his/her mind and explored the possibility of sending notices by way of other modes prescribed in Section 169 of the GST Act, which are also the valid mode of service under the Act, otherwise it will not be an effective service, rather, it would only fulfilling the empty formalities.”
Hon’ble Madras High Court overturned the original tax order and sent the case back to the GST officer, but with conditions: –
The petitioner must pay 25% of the disputed tax within four weeks
After that, they must submit a reply within three weeks
A personal hearing will be arranged
A new decision will be made based on the facts, not just formality
However, it is always advisable to tax payers to keep logging into GST portal periodically to avoid such incident.
Pushkar Mer 