[Exclusive] 10 Days in Since Launch But Zero GST Appeals e-filed so far! GSTAT yet to be Functional?

The Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), formally launched on 24 September 2025 by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is already showing a worrying sign: not a single GST appeal has been filed through its much-touted e-Courts Portal in the first ten days since its inauguration.

Official statistics from the GSTAT portal tell the story: while 136 users and 23 advocates have registered, and 170 e-filed applications have been submitted, zero appeals have actually been filed, neither cumulatively nor in the current month.

A Grand Launch, but No Movement!

At the inauguration, Sitharaman had pitched GSTAT as a “pillar of fairness and certainty”, promising jargon-free decisions, digital-by-default hearings, and faster dispute resolution to unclog over four lakh pending appeals. Ministers and officials hailed it as a milestone for ease of doing business.

But the early numbers do not inspire confidence. The disconnect between promises of a swift, accessible appellate mechanism and the absence of a single filed appeal suggests either a technical snag, procedural bottleneck, or simple lack of readiness.

Possible Reasons

Several factors could explain why not a single GST appeal has yet moved forward, even as 170 applications sit in the system:

1. Staggered Filing Window The government has allowed taxpayers to file legacy appeals until 30 June 2026. This long runway may have created a “wait-and-watch” approach among professionals, who prefer to assess the portal’s stability before committing sensitive cases.
2. Portal or Procedural Delays While the e-Courts portal has been unveiled, practitioners indicate that backend verification and case allocation processes may not yet be live
   . The statistic of “applications without appeals” points to technical or procedural checks holding up final acceptance.
3. Lack of Awareness and Guidance Despite FAQs and videos uploaded on the GSTAT portal, awareness among tax professionals especially in smaller cities appears low. Some practitioners suggest that many are still unclear on how to transition existing High Court writ petitions to GSTAT.
4. Skepticism Among Legal Fraternity After eight years of delay in establishing the tribunal, lawyers and corporates may be reluctant to shift sensitive, high-stakes appeals immediately. The credibility deficit created by years of judicial and legislative back-and-forth may be fueling caution.
5. Administrative Incompleteness Reports earlier this year noted that several state benches lacked full infrastructure and appointments. Even if the portal accepts appeals, the physical benches and staffing may not yet be ready to hear them.

Critical Take

The absence of a single appeal almost ten days after launch is not a minor technicality, it points to systemic unreadiness. For an institution projected as a reform milestone, this silent start risks undermining credibility among taxpayers and professionals.

The government had years to prepare GSTAT, after repeated Supreme Court and High Court interventions forced legislative redesign. To now showcase a fully launched tribunal but with zero functional appeals reflects either over-optimism in presentation or under-preparedness in execution.

Unless GSTAT demonstrates actual case filings and hearings soon, it risks being seen as a “portal without purpose”, a headline institution launched for optics rather than outcomes. For taxpayers stuck in litigation limbo and for businesses facing blocked capital, that is not just disappointing, it is costly.

Tell us What is Wrong

Feel free to write to Taxscan at manu@taxscan.in to get your expectations, experience, concerns, comments and even workarounds for GSTAT e-filing portal issues (if any) published in a follow up story.

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