GST officers should use other Section 169 service modes when portal notices receive no response.

The petitioner challenged the second respondent’s adjudication order dated 7 March 2025, issued in Form GST DRC-07 for FY 2021–22.

The petitioner said the notices were uploaded under “View Additional Notices and Orders” on the GST portal, of which it was unaware, and that the assessment was completed without a personal hearing.

The respondents maintained that the notices had been uploaded but acknowledged that no personal hearing had been provided.

The petitioner undertook to pay ₹50,000 towards the disputed tax as a condition of remand.

The Court found that the show-cause notice had been uploaded on the portal and that the impugned order confirmed its proposals without a personal hearing.

1. Whether the adjudication order should be set aside and the matter remanded where the petitioner claimed not to have been aware of notices uploaded on the GST portal and no personal hearing was provided

2. Whether, when a taxpayer does not respond to notices uploaded through one mode, the proper officer should consider other modes of service under Section 169(1) of the GST Act

Section 169(1) of the GST Act provides for modes of serving notices and orders.

The Court observed that portal-upload service is sufficient, but where the taxpayer does not respond to notices sent through that mode, the officer should explore other statutory modes of service, preferably registered post with acknowledgment due (RPAD), to make service effective.

The Court also treated the absence of a personal hearing before the impugned adjudication order as relevant to granting remand.

Although uploading the show-cause notice on the GST portal constituted a recognised mode of service, the Court considered that the petitioner had not responded and that the officer should have explored other available modes under Section 169(1), rather than proceeding after what the Court characterised as formal compliance alone.

The absence of a personal hearing, acknowledged by the respondents, further supported setting aside the order and remitting the matter for fresh consideration.

The Court made remand conditional on payment of ₹50,000.

The petitioner must file its reply and supporting documents within three weeks of payment.

On receipt of the reply, the respondents must give 14 days’ clear notice fixing a personal hearing and then pass fresh orders on the merits and in accordance with law.

The writ petition was disposed of without costs, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.