The Principal Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), New Delhi, has extended the operation of relaxed appeal filing guidelines till December 31, 2026, considering the practical difficulties being faced by appellants during the initial phase of filing appeals on the GSTAT Portal. 

The order, issued on May 14, 2026 by GSTAT President Sanjay Kumar Mishra, states that the earlier office order dated January 20, 2026 and instructions dated March 10, 2026 would continue to remain in force for facilitating ease of filing appeals before the Tribunal. The direction has been issued in exercise of powers under Rule 123 of the Goods & Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2025. 

The Tribunal acknowledged that taxpayers and appellants are facing operational challenges while using the GSTAT portal in its initial implementation stage. To reduce procedural hardships and avoid unnecessary defects during scrutiny of appeals, specific instructions have been issued to Registrars and scrutiny officers across GSTAT benches. 

As per the instructions, the Registrar, Joint Registrars, Deputy Registrars and Assistant Registrars have been directed to verify whether Form APL-05 contains soft copies of the Show Cause Notice (SCN), Order-in-Original (OIO), Order-in-Appeal (OIA), statement of facts, grounds of appeal, proof of pre-deposit and court fee, wherever applicable. In cases where such documents are uploaded, scrutiny officers have been instructed not to raise defect flags. 

The order further clarifies that if any higher court has granted exemption from payment of court fee or pre-deposit, no defect should be raised on that account during scrutiny of the appeal. 

Importantly, the Tribunal has also relaxed scrutiny standards in cases where appellants file appeals under Section 112(1) of the CGST Act by uploading scanned certified copies of the Order-in-Original or Order-in-Appeal. If the scrutiny officer is satisfied from the endorsement made by the issuing authority that the uploaded document is a certified copy, no defect is required to be flagged. 

The instructions additionally mandate that appellants or taxpayers must upload either an authorization letter issued in favour of a tax professional or a vakalatnama executed in favour of an advocate representing them before the Tribunal. 

With respect to departmental appeals filed by the Revenue under Section 112(3), the Tribunal specified that six documents are mandatory, namely the Show Cause Notice, Order-in-Original, Order-in-Appeal, opinion of the Commissioner directing filing of the application, statement of facts, and grounds of appeal. 

The GSTAT also clarified that no court fee or pre-deposit is required for appeals filed by the Revenue department. Further, only one verification and digital signature of the appellant would be necessary. 

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