SEPTEMBER 24, 2025

Notices That Nobody Notices

By Vijay Kumar

IN the grand theatre of GST, the adjudication order is no humble emissary-it's a verdict cloaked in silence. It doesn't arrive with sirens or summons, but with a quiet finality tucked deep within the dashboard. And when it's missed, it isn't just a lapse-it's a liability, litigation, and the slow tightening of procedural noose.

This issue of Jest GST turns its lens on the orders that go unseen, the digital decisions that slip past the taxpayer's gaze until they resurface in court, fully enforceable and utterly taxing.

My story this week springs from a striking judgment of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court delivered just last week. I'm not dwelling on the main issue in the case-which, though deceptively simple, marks a significant moment in GST jurisprudence.

Here's the crux:

A GST officer passed an adjudication order on 28.02.2024 and promptly uploaded it to the GST portal. The taxpayer, against whom the order was passed, remained blissfully unaware of its existence-not because of defiance, but because he wasn't a habitual visitor to the portal. After all, the GST dashboard lacks emojis, gossip, and the thrill of forwarded conspiracy theories. And the Department didn't send him a copy (they usually don't). As a result, the taxpayer missed the statutory four-month window to appeal.

The High Court had to decide whether uploading the impugned order in the GSTN portal alone is sufficient and whether the limitation for filing appeal under Section 107 of the Act would start running from the date of uploading.

The Court held that in this case, the order had merely been uploaded in the portal and not communicated to the assessee and the limitation will start running only after it is communicated - 2025-TIOL-1512-HC-MAD-GST. You may also read our article SERVICE is not equal to COMMUNICATE.

But my story isn't about the ruling itself-it's about the thoughtful suggestions by the Counsel for the petitioner, S. Jaikumar, Advocate. Remarkably, these suggestions were not just heard-they were recorded as part of the judgment.

The Counsel was drawing attention to a systemic blind spot:

Under the current GST regime, critical communications-Show Cause Notices, adjudication orders, appellate decisions-are uploaded to the taxpayer's dashboard. No email. No post. No carrier pigeon. These orders arrive like bureaucratic phantoms-no knock, no ping. Small businesses, already juggling compliance and chaos, often miss these uploads - because of digital detachment.

And the consequences?

- Missed appeal deadlines

- Surge in writ petitions

- Courts drowning in paperwork

- A tragicomedy streaming in every High Court near you - no subscription required, just a missed login.

The Counsel's suggestions, now immortalized in the High Court's order, are refreshingly practical:

- Dashboard Pop-Ups: Notices should demand attention-bold, red, and preferably flashing.

- OTP Acknowledgment: No access to the portal until the taxpayer confirms receipt via OTP.

- The date of OTP becomes the legal date of service.

- Functional Lockdown: No filings, no returns, no escape-until the order is acknowledged.

- Physical Mail for Cancelled Registrations: Because dashboards don't blink, buzz, or shout-they just wait, silently, for your downfall.

If justice is blind, perhaps it needs a pop-up.

If governance is digital, maybe it needs a human touch.

And if the GST Council, CBIC, and GSTN are listening-maybe it's time to act before the next rate revision steals the spotlight.

The High Court, in a rare gesture of procedural empathy, extracted the Counsel's written submissions verbatim.

Here they are:

1. Under the current framework of the GST regime, show cause notices (SCNs), adjudication orders, appellate authority orders, personal hearing intimations and other communications are merely uploaded in the taxpayer's dashboard on the GST common portal, which appear in 'Notices or Orders' or 'Additional Notices or Orders', without any separate mode of physical intimation through postal means.

2. Due to the above mode of communication,

- Taxpayers, particularly small and medium enterprises, often remain unaware of such uploads.

- Many a time, appeal deadlines are missed, not due to wilful default but due to the absence of knowledge of such communications.

- Consequently, it results in litigation, multiplicity of writ petitions, and increased burden on the Hon'ble Courts, and other stake holders in the GST.

3. Suggestion for a practical reform:

This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to direct or recommend that the GST Network (GSTN), GST Council or the respective governments to take immediate steps to re-engineer the GST portal with the following suggested features:

- Prominent Notification Window:

Any SCN, adjudication order, cancellation order, or appellate order shall be displayed prominently on the home page after login, highlighted in bold or in red, clearly indicating urgency.

- Mandatory Acknowledgement via OTP:

The portal can be modified such that unless the taxpayer enters an OTP sent to the registered email/mobile number to acknowledge viewing the communication, access to other functionalities of the portal shall remain blocked.

The date of OTP authentication may be treated as the date of service under Section 169 for legal compliance and limitation purposes if the orders are being uploaded only in portal without being communicated in physical mode such as post.

- Alternative service in cancelled registration cases:

Where GST registration is cancelled (either suo -motu or otherwise), there is no requirement for the registration cancelled taxpayer to access the GST portal on a regular basis as they are not doing the business and are not required to file the returns. In such cases the respective authorities should be directed to ensure that orders are also served through physical post to the residential address or the address given by the taxpayer to the authority at the time of filing of the cancellation application (as the business address may not be operative as the business itself is closed), in addition to portal upload, if not the means of other modes of communication envisaged under Section 169 of the CGST/TNGST Act, 2017 itself becomes otiose.

4.0 Precedent for Portal-based Functional Restriction:

It is respectfully submitted that the GST portal already incorporates functional restrictions to ensure taxpayer compliance. For instance:

On conjoint reading of Section 39(10) of the CGST Act, 2017 and Rule 59(6) of the CGST Rules, 2017 , provides that if a registered person fails to furnish GSTR-3B for a tax period, then the filing of GSTR-1 for the subsequent month is blocked by the portal. In this regard, the GSTN has issued advisory on sequential filing of GSTR-1, dated: 21st October 2022.

4.1 The Petitioner humbly submits that a similar systemic restriction can be adopted for critical legal communications, such as Show Cause Notices, Adjudication Orders, Registration Cancellation Orders, etc. Specifically:

The portal may be technologically configured such that no further access to return filing or other functionalities is granted unless and until the taxpayer acknowledges the uploaded order or communication by way of an OTP-based authentication.

The date on which OTP acknowledgment is submitted may be deemed to be the date of service under Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017, thereby bringing clarity to limitation periods for filing appeals or replies.

5. It is submitted that if the taxpayer has not complied with the EKYC Norms, then on Login to the GST portal there pop ups a notification on the dashboard of GST portal reminding to fill the details for E-KYC. Similar to that a pop up can appear for notices and orders issued.

6. The benefits of such an approach are as follows:

Reduces litigation based on non-service or delayed knowledge of orders.

Brings clarity and transparency in procedural compliance.

Ensures accessibility and accountability.

Saves judicial time and aligns with the spirit of ease of doing business.

7. It is submitted that the when mode of service through portal is ineffective in practice for the above-mentioned reasons, and when the Hon'ble Madras High Court in WP Nos. 33562 of 2024 and etc, batch and in WP No. 1114 of 2025 have held that the mode of service through GST portal is a valid mode under Section 169 of the CGST Act, 2017, alternatively the GSTN should re-design the GST portal by providing easy visibility and accessibility of the notices or orders in the GST portal in order to uphold the principles of natural justice and ensure access to remedy.

8. Recommendations:

In light of the above, it is respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble High Court may kindly:

a. Recommend to the GST Network (GSTN), GST Council and respective governments to introduce the following measures in the portal architecture:

- Mandatory popup or dashboard alert for all legal communications;

- OTP-based acknowledgment, the date of which will be treated as the effective date of communication when the communications are made only through the GST portal;

- Functional restriction until acknowledgment is submitted, similar to restrictions under Rule 59(6);

b. Further direct that in cases where the taxpayer's registration stands cancelled and there is no requirement for the registration cancelled taxpayer to access the GST portal on a regular basis as they are not doing the business and are not required to file the returns, the respective authorities should be directed to ensure that orders are also served through physical post to the residential address or the address given by the taxpayer to the authority at the time of filing of the cancellation application (as the business address may not be operative as the business itself is closed), in addition to portal upload, if not the means of other modes of communication envisaged under Section 169 of the CGST/TNGST Act, 2017 itself becomes otiose."

The High Court observed,

Since the written submissions pertain to a larger canvas, I have extracted the same verbatim. It is for those at the ultimate helm of affairs to take note of the suggestions made above.

Who are these ultimate helmsmen? GST Council, CBIC, GSTN.

Will they take note? That depends-first, they must know these suggestions exist.

Though the High Court made these suggestions part of its order, it has not given any directions nor marked a copy of the order to the above authorities at the ultimate helm of affairs.

So, we, Taxindiaonline will send a copy of the order to them and hope someone reads it-and acts.

Meanwhile, you are advised to:

- Log in daily.

- Pray.

You may discover an adjudication order dated last month-quietly waiting, legally binding, and utterly unforgiving.

The only thing louder than a missed notice is the silence that follows.