The Principal Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal issued an office order dated 20 January 2026 to ease procedural hurdles during the initial rollout of the GSTAT online appeal portal. Exercising powers under Rule 123 of the GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, 2025, the President directed all bench registries to adopt a lenient approach while scrutinising appeal filings for six months from the order’s issuance. During this period, registries are instructed to raise only substantive defects that affect the merits of a case, and not defects of form that are merely technical or procedural. The order further clarifies documentation requirements: digitally generated documents from the GSTN system do not require certification, while scanned copies of physical documents attached to appeals must be duly signed. This administrative measure aims to facilitate smoother access to appellate remedies, reduce technical rejections, and ensure that appeals are decided on merits rather than being delayed or dismissed due to minor procedural lapses during the portal’s early phase.
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
(GST Appellate Tribunal)
Principal Bench, New Delhi
Office Order No. No. GSTAT/Pr.Bench/Portal/125/25-26 | 2711-15 |Dated: 20th January, 2026
In terms of the powers conferred by rule 123 of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2025 and considering the difficulties being faced by the appellants in the initial phase for filing of appeals on the GSTAT Portal, the President is pleased to direct that-
“the Registry of each bench shall keep a lenient view during scrutiny of the appeal documents and raise defect of substance only rather than for defect of form i.e. the defects not affecting the merit of the case shall not be raised, for an initial period of 06 months from the date of issuance of this order.”
Further, it is clarified that the documents generated digitally through GSTN System are not required to be certified, whereas, scanned copies of the physical documents attached with the appeal shall be signed.
This issues with the approval of the Hon’ble President, GSTAT.
Registrar
GSTAT
Copy to-
1. PS to the President, GSTAT
2. PS to the Members, Pr. Bench, GSTAT
3. PS to the Registrar, GSTAT
4. All State Benches, for information and necessary action please.
5. Website
