Tax officers must pursue alternative statutory service modes when portal notices receive no response.

The petitioner challenged a GST assessment order dated 10 December 2025 and the rejection of its appeal dated 16 April 2026 as time-barred.

The petitioner said it had not become aware of notices uploaded to the “View Additional Notices and Orders” tab of the GST portal and that the assessment was made without a personal hearing.

The respondent maintained that the notices had been uploaded to the portal but accepted that no personal hearing had been provided; the petitioner offered to pay 15% of the disputed tax to secure a remand.

1. Whether the assessment order should be set aside and the matter remitted where the notices were uploaded to the GST portal, but no personal hearing was provided and the petitioner claimed not to have been aware of the notices.

2. Whether remand should be conditional on the petitioner depositing 15% of the disputed tax.

Section 169(1) of the GST Act recognises multiple valid modes of service. Although uploading a notice to the GST portal is sufficient service, the Court stated that where a taxpayer does not respond to notices sent through one mode, the officer should consider other available modes under Section 169(1), preferably service by RPAD, to make service effective rather than merely formal.

The Court also applied the principle that an assessment should not be confirmed without a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing.

The Court noted that the show-cause notice had been uploaded to the GST portal, but the petitioner claimed not to have known of it, and the respondent acknowledged that no personal hearing had been provided.

While portal upload constituted a valid mode of service, the Court considered that the absence of any response should have prompted the officer to explore other modes permitted by Section 169(1), rather than proceed to an ex parte assessment.

In view of the missing hearing and the petitioner’s offer to deposit 15% of the disputed tax, the Court ordered a conditional remand.

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

The respondent must then give 14 clear days’ notice fixing a personal hearing and decide the matter on the merits and in accordance with law.

The writ petition was disposed of with no order as to costs.