Transitional input tax credit relief allows TRAN-I filing, with GST-3B as a fallback if the portal fails.

Transitional input tax credit under GST was recognised as available through Form TRAN-I, and the High Court extended relief on the basis of an earlier decision governing the same issue. Where the statutory form could not be uploaded because the portal did not open, the petitioner was permitted to preserve the credit by claiming the unutilised amount in GST-3B returns for January 2020, either electronically or manually. The operative effect was to ensure that portal-related technical difficulty did not defeat entitlement to transitional credit.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to avail transitional input tax credit by filing Form TRAN-I, and in the event of portal-related difficulty, whether corresponding credit could be claimed in GST-3B returns.

Analysis: The petition was treated as covered by an earlier decision granting similar relief to assessees. The parties accepted that the present controversy stood squarely governed by that decision, and the Court accordingly extended the same benefit. The order also provided a fallback mechanism where the petitioner was unable to upload the statutory form because of non-opening of the portal by the respondents.

Conclusion: The petitioner was permitted to file Form TRAN-I by 31.12.2019, and if portal constraints prevented such filing, the petitioner was allowed to claim the unutilized credit in GST-3B returns for January 2020, either electronically or manually.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded with transitional credit relief and an alternative mode for availing the benefit in case of portal failure.

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