NEW DELHI: The government has set up an IT grievance redressal mechanism to address difficulties faced by taxpayers due to technical glitches in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal.
“GST Council has delegated powers to an IT Grievance Redressal Committee to approve and recommend to the GSTN the steps to be taken to redress the grievances and provide relief to the taxpayers,” Finance Ministry said in a statement. Under the new mechanism, if any taxpayer was unable to file a form or income tax returns by the due date owing to a technical glitch, he or she would be allowed to do so within a stipulated time period.
In case any taxpayer could not complete the process of filing TRAN-1 (transitional credit form) in time due to the IT glitch, he or she would be allowed to complete the process by April 30.
The filing of GSTR 3B returns for TRAN-1 will have to be completed by May 31, the Finance Ministry said. In case of any such issues, the taxpayers would have to approach field officers/nodal officers in regions where there was a demonstrable glitch on the common portal, due to which the due process could not be completed.
“The IT Grievance Redressal Committee shall examine and approve the solutions as may be necessary for an identified issue,” the ministry’s statement said.According to the government, the decision, relating to filing of TRAN-1, will benefit 17,573 taxpayers who will consequently be able to avail of rs 25.82 billion as Central GST credit and Rs 11.12 billion as State GST credit.
The move comes after long standing requests from stakeholders for such a redressal system. As early as June, within just weeks of the GST rollout, trade body the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had demanded the setting up of an ‘impartial authority’ like an ombudsman or Lokpal, where businessmen could voice GST-related grievances and seek redressal.