Grievance Redressal Mechanism for processing of application for GST registration through E‑mail

Griev­ance Redres­sal Mech­a­nism for pro­cess­ing of appli­ca­tion for GST reg­is­tra­tion through E‑mail

The Cen­tral Board of Indi­rect Tax­es and Cus­toms (CBIC) has issued Instruc­tion No. 03/2025 dat­ed 17.04.2025, aim­ing to stream­line and strength­en the griev­ance redres­sal mech­a­nism relat­ed to GST reg­is­tra­tion appli­ca­tions. This move address­es ris­ing con­cerns about pro­ce­dur­al delays and incon­sis­tent query prac­tices dur­ing reg­is­tra­tion pro­cess­ing, espe­cial­ly where appli­ca­tions fall under Cen­tral Juris­dic­tion.

Background and Purpose

Pro­cess­ing of GST reg­is­tra­tion appli­ca­tions has been an area of con­cern for many appli­cants and pro­fes­sion­als due to fre­quent rejec­tions or repeat­ed queries that often appear mis­aligned with the offi­cial guide­lines. The CBIC, in response, has clar­i­fied that any griev­ance per­tain­ing to such issues — includ­ing improp­er queries or rejec­tion grounds — can now be esca­lat­ed to the juris­dic­tion­al Zon­al Prin­ci­pal Chief Com­mis­sion­er or Chief Com­mis­sion­er of Cen­tral GST.

This instruc­tion intro­duces a struc­tured griev­ance redres­sal mech­a­nism to ensure fair, quick, and effec­tive han­dling of such issues while main­tain­ing admin­is­tra­tive transparency.

Key Features of the Grievance Redressal Mechanism

The Instruc­tion out­lines the fol­low­ing frame­work for redressal:

1. Dedicated Email for Grievances

Each Prin­ci­pal Chief Com­mis­sion­er / Chief Com­mis­sion­er of CGST Zones must pub­li­cize a des­ig­nat­ed email address where appli­cants can sub­mit their griev­ances. Ade­quate vis­i­bil­i­ty and pub­lic­i­ty must be ensured for accessibility.

2. Grievance Submission Requirements

Appli­cants must include the fol­low­ing in their griev­ance communication:

• Appli­ca­tion Ref­er­ence Num­ber (ARN)
• Juris­dic­tion details (Centre/State)
• A brief descrip­tion of the issue (e.g., unwar­rant­ed query, improp­er rejec­tion, etc.)

3. Forwarding State Jurisdiction Cases

In instances where the griev­ance per­tains to State GST juris­dic­tion, the office of the Prin­ci­pal Chief Com­mis­sion­er / Chief Com­mis­sion­er will for­ward the mat­ter to the appro­pri­ate State author­i­ty. Simul­ta­ne­ous­ly, a copy will be endorsed to the GST Coun­cil Sec­re­tari­at for monitoring.

4. Resolution and Communication

The juris­dic­tion­al author­i­ty must ensure time­ly and fair res­o­lu­tion of griev­ances. If the officer’s queries are found to be valid, appli­cants should be appro­pri­ate­ly advised with clar­i­ty on how to com­ply or rectify.

5. Monthly Reporting

All CGST Zones are to sub­mit month­ly reports on griev­ance redres­sal sta­tus to the Direc­tor Gen­er­al of GST (DGGST). The DGGST will com­pile this data and present it to the Board for over­sight and pol­i­cy evaluation.