AUGUST 20, 2025
No DIN : Go to BIN
IN GSTland, even a missing number can land you in Court.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in Circular No. Dated: November 5, 2019, in exercise of its power under section 168(1) of the CGST Act, 2017/ Section 37B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, directed that:
no search authorization, summons, arrest memo, inspection notices and letters issued in the course of any enquiry shall be issued by any officer under the Board to a taxpayer or any other person, on or after the 8th day of November, 2019 without a computer-generated Document Identification Number (DIN) being duly quoted prominently in the body of such communication .
It was also clarified that whereas DIN is a mandatory requirement, in exceptional circumstances communications may be issued without an auto generated DIN. However, this exception is to be made only after recording the reasons in writing in the concerned file. Also, such communication shall expressly state that it has been issued without a DIN. The exigent situations in which a communication may be issued without the electronically generated DIN are as follows: -
(i) when there are technical difficulties in generating the electronic DIN, or
(ii) when communication regarding investigation/enquiry, verification etc. is required to issued at short notice or in urgent situations and the authorized officer is outside the office in the discharge of his official duties.
The Board also directed that any specified communication which does not bear the electronically generated DIN and is not covered by the exceptions mentioned above, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued.
In Circular No. , Dated: December 23, 2019, the Board once again directed that any specified communication, which does not bear the electronically generated DIN and is not covered by the exceptions mentioned in paragraph 3 of Circular No. dated 05.11.2019, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued.
The Board requested the Chief Commissioner(s)/Director General(s) to circulate these instructions to all the formations under their charge for strict compliance.
That was in 2019.
On 17.03.2023, a Deputy Commissioner of Central Tax issued a show-cause notice to a taxpayer – with the Document Identification Number (DIN) missing. Was the Deputy Commissioner not aware of the Board Circulars or the instruction circulated by the Chief Commissioners? The missing Document Identification Number (DIN) meant that the show-cause notice was not issued at all and obviously all actions based on such a deemed non-existing show-cause notice also cannot exist.
The taxpayer approached the High Court with this and other grievances. What was he against? A deemed non-existing show-cause notice!
The learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Department, on instructions, submitted that there was no DIN number on the impugned show-cause notice.
The High Court observed:
In view of the aforesaid judgments and the circular issued by the C.B.I.C., the non-mention of a DIN number in this show-cause notice, which was uploaded in the portal , requires this show-cause notice to be set aside.
Accordingly, this Writ Petition is disposed of setting aside the show-cause notice, dated 17.03.2023, passed by the 1st respondent, with liberty to the 1st respondent to conduct fresh assessment, after giving notice to the petitioner and assigning a DIN number to the said show-cause notice. The period from the date of this show-cause notice, till the date of receipt of this Order shall be excluded for the purposes of limitation.
Our Deputy Commissioner issued a Show-Cause Notice without a Document Identification Number (DIN). The Board emphatically stated that such a notice shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. So, there was no Show Cause Notice. The taxpayer need not have even gone to the High Court against a notice deemed to have never been issued. But had he kept quiet, most probably, his bank accounts would have been frozen and he would have had to any way approach the High Court for defreezing.
While the High Court has quashed the Show-Cause Notice, it was very generous to the department in granting the liberty to the GST Department to reissue the Show-Cause Notice with the DIN with the period from the date of this show-cause notice, till the date of receipt of this Order to be excluded for the purposes of limitation.
What does the department lose? Nothing, absolutely nothing – it can still issue the same notice with a DIN added with no fear of limitation.
What does the taxpayer gain? Nothing – after more than two years, he is still stuck with the same notice, now adorned with a DIN.
All this over a missing reference number-not to mention the cost of litigation in the High Court.
A Twist in the Tale:
In Circular No.; Dated: June 09, 2025, the CBIC clarified:
2. It has been brought to the notice of the Board that the documents and summary generated through the common portal of GST always bear a Reference No. (RFN), which is verifiable through the portal (at https://services.gst.gov.in/services/verifyRfn). On verification, the portal provides details of the document such as Date of RFN generation, Date of issuing the Document, Module, Type of Communication and Name of the Office issuing the Document.
3. Reference, in this regard, is also invited to Section 169(1)(d) of the CGST Act, 2017, which provides that any decision, order, summons, notice or other communication shall be served by making it available on the common portal. Further vide Instruction No. dated 23.11.2023, CBIC emphasised on strict compliance of rule 142 of CGST Rules and directed to ensure that summary of Show Cause Notices in Form GST DRC-01 and summary of the Order-in-Original in Form GST DRC-07 should be served electronically on common portal / uploaded electronically on the common portal.
4. In light of the above, quoting DIN on such communications generated through the common portal of GST, which already bear RFN, results into two different electronically generated verifiable unique numbers namely RFN & DIN on the same communication, which renders quoting of DIN on such communication unnecessary.
5. It is therefore clarified that for communications via common portal (in compliance with Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017) having verifiable Reference Number (RFN), quoting of Document Identification Number (DIN) is not required and such communication bearing RFN is to be treated as a valid communication.
6. To the above extent, Circular No. dated 05th November 2019 and dated 23.12.2019 issued by the Board, stands modified.
So, for a notice via common portal (in compliance with Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017) having verifiable Reference Number (RFN), quoting of Document Identification Number (DIN) is not required and such communication bearing RFN is to be treated as a valid communication.
Now
1. Was the Notice in this case issued through the portal?
Yes, the High Court order in Para 6 states, “the non-mention of a DIN number in this show-cause notice, which was uploaded in the portal, requires this show-cause notice to be set aside."
2. Did it contain the Reference Number (RFN)?
Most probably, yes, as they always do.
3. But why was this situation not explained to the High Court?
Who knows?
If DIN was required, not mentioning it, is a serious lapse on the part of the Department, for which the taxpayer had to suffer.
If DIN was not required, not informing the High Court of the fact is a more serious lapse, for which both the Department and the taxpayer suffer.
GST: Still a Jest?
Until next week
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