In a bid to address the technical glitches in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal, the Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC) has formed an IT Grievance Redressal Mechanism for the taxpayers.
Earlier, the Bombay and Allahabad High Courts had advised the Government to provide a solution for the taxpayers to address the issues in the GST Official website.
A circular issued by the Board in this regard has stated that the relief could be in the nature of allowing the filing of any Form or Return prescribed by law or amending any Form or Return already filed.
“Problems which are proposed to be addressed through this mechanism would essentially be those which relate to Common Portal (GST Portal) and affect a large section of taxpayers. Where the problem relates to the individual taxpayer, due to localized issues such as non-availability of internet connectivity or failure of power supply, this mechanism shall not be available,” it said.
For this purpose, IT Grievance Redressal Committee has been formed. Any issue which needs to be addressed through this mechanism shall be identified by GSTN and the method of the resolution approved by the GST Implementation Committee (GIC) which shall act as the IT Grievance Redressal Committee, it said.
The Board further said that where an IT related glitch has been identified as the reason for the failure of a taxpayer in the filing of a return or form prescribed in the law, the consequential fine and penalty would also be required to be waived. GST Council has delegated the power to the IT Grievance Redressal Committee to recommend waiver of fine or penalty, in case of an emergency, to the Government in terms of section 128 of the CGST Act, 2017 under such mitigating circumstances as are identified by the committee. All such notifications waiving fine or penalty shall be placed before GST Council.
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