The Maharashtra Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) issued the guidelines for online e-hearing before the Advance Ruling Authority under Maharashtra State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AAR instructed that the service of advance ruling order will be done through email only. The date on which the advance ruling order is mailed to the designated email id of the applicant shall be considered as a valid service date for all further purposes.
The physical copy of order shall be sent on specific request from the applicant/ authorised representative/ concerned officer.
It was clarified that in case, the circumstances or legal provisions, etc. render it necessary for hearing in person, the advance ruling officer may opt to conduct a personal hearing by physical presence.
The applicant or his authorized representative may also request the Advance Ruling Authority to conduct a physical hearing with reasonable cause for requesting physical attendance during the advance ruling proceedings.
The decision of advance ruling authority will be final in respect of conducting a personal hearing with physical attendance.
In such circumstances, the same will be carried out with mutually suitable timing of the officer and the applicant. The instructions as enumerated above with respect to e-Hearing shall not be applicable in such cases.
“Documents required to be submitted for e-hearing may be sent by the applicant on mail id advancerulinggst@mahagst.gov.in. In such cases, the original copies of the documents should be preserved for production upon being directed by the authority at any time in the future. It is to be noted that the responsibility for producing the originals and proving their genuineness lies with the applicant as it has been electronically filed,” the guidelines said.
The Authority said that these guidelines are further subject to changes due to unforeseen circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic or as decided by the authority, which would be informed in due course.
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