CESTAT Directs Officials to Complete AI & Cyber Security Courses by 31 March 2026 [Read Circular]

The Customs, Exciseand Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has issued a Circular directing all its officers and officials to complete at least one course each on ArtificialIntelligence (AI) and Cyber Security by 31 March 2026.

The latest circular finds its basis on earlier directions issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue which requested officers and officials across Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and attached offices to undertake the prescribed training.

CESTAT has now instructed its staff to select courses that are relevant to their roles and levels from the list of courses provided, and to submit a compliance report by 01 April 2026.

The iGOT Karmayogi platform, which also houses the recently launched iGOT Marketplace, hosts advanced courses from leading national and international universities and promotes role-based learning and continuous capacity building. Government officials can avail these courses free of cost.

Among the numerous offerings in the marketplace, AI courses such as Artificial Intelligence for Public Governance (Security Council of India), Large Language Models: Concepts and Applications (IIT Hyderabad), Advanced Prompt Engineering for Everyone (Vanderbilt University) are present.

In the cybersecurity segment, there are courses such as Foundations of Cybersecurity (Google), Cybersecurity (Basic Level) (IIT Madras), Cyber Hygiene Essentials (CRPF Academy) and more.

As AI and Cyber Security take center stage amid evolving governance techniques and challenges, the move is slated by the Ministry to ensure that employees are adequately sensitised to contemporary technological risks and responsible application of AI in public administration.

The circular further directs ministries and departments to update organisational hierarchies on the iGOT portal, ensuring that officials verify and complete their profile information, and revising Capacity Building Plans using the AI-based capacity building tool.

Ministries have also been tasked with identifying and developing domain-specific courses to enhance the competence of its officials. Completion of user profiles is to be made mandatory going forward, with potential restriction of certain platform functionalities if profiles remain incomplete.

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