India has notified 31 State Benches at 45 locations and one Principal Bench in New Delhi. But none are functional yet.
The delay stems from multiple legal and legislative hurdles.
The original provisions of Sections 109 and 110 of the CGST Act faced a legal challenge in the Madras High Court. The court struck them down in September 2019.
Later, the Centre amended around 30 laws to bring uniformity in tribunals. But the Supreme Court struck these down too.
To address this, the Tribunal Rules, 2020 were issued. They also faced a challenge in the Supreme Court. The Court sought further changes.
The Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 came next. A Group of Ministers recommended a fresh framework for GSTAT.
Based on their advice, the GST Council cleared the way in its 49th meeting in February 2023. The Finance Act, 2023 amended Sections 109 and 110 again.
Further changes came through the CGST (Second Amendment) Act, 2023 to align the law with the Tribunal Reforms Act.
The government has now started appointing members and staff to make GSTAT benches operational.
Meanwhile, new measures aim to ease taxpayers’ burden. These include relaxation of input tax credit timelines, lower pre-deposit requirements for appeals, and an amnesty scheme for pending disputes.
The budget allocation for GSTAT this year is ₹210.04 crore. So far, only about ₹3.05 crore has been spent.
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First Published: Jul 21, 2025 2:45 PM IST