GST portal service and communication: e-mail notice may be valid, but enforcement awaits proper upload of the order summary and DRC-07.

Service of a GST show cause notice by e-mail was treated as valid where actual receipt was shown, and non-uploading of Form GST DRC-01 on the portal did not invalidate the notice. The adjudication order, however, was held unenforceable until the order summary and Form GST DRC-07 were properly uploaded and communicated on the portal. Once such portal communication is completed, the uploading date becomes the revised date of communication for computing the time to appeal, preserving the taxpayer's appellate remedy.

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Issues: (i) Whether service of the show cause notice through e-mail, despite non-uploading of Form GST DRC-01 on the portal, was valid; (ii) Whether the adjudication order could be enforced when the summary of the order and Form GST DRC-07 had not been properly uploaded and served; (iii) Whether the petitioner could be permitted to prefer an appeal after proper portal communication of the order.

Issue (i): Whether service of the show cause notice through e-mail, despite non-uploading of Form GST DRC-01 on the portal, was valid.

Analysis: Section 169 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the corresponding State enactment recognise service by e-mail communication. The record showed that the petitioner had been served with the show cause-cum-demand notice and notice of personal hearing through the registered e-mail address before adjudication.

Conclusion: Service of the show cause notice by e-mail was held to be valid, and non-uploading of Form GST DRC-01 on the portal did not vitiate the notice.

Issue (ii): Whether the adjudication order could be enforced when the summary of the order and Form GST DRC-07 had not been properly uploaded and served.

Analysis: The order summary had not been uploaded on the portal, and the Form GST DRC-07 uploaded later was defective. In the absence of service of Form GST DRC-07, the order could not be enforced; a defective Form GST DRC-07 was also treated as unenforceable.

Conclusion: The adjudication order was held not to be capable of being given effect to until the summary and Form GST DRC-07 were uploaded on the portal.

Issue (iii): Whether the petitioner could be permitted to prefer an appeal after proper portal communication of the order.

Analysis: The Court directed that once the summary of the order and Form GST DRC-07 were uploaded, the date of uploading would be treated as the revised date of communication for the purpose of appeal.

Conclusion: The petitioner was permitted to file an appeal after proper portal upload and communication of the order.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition resulted in procedural relief to the petitioner by restraining enforcement of the adjudication order until proper portal communication was completed and by preserving the right to appeal from the revised date of communication.

Ratio Decidendi: Where statutory service permits e-mail communication, non-uploading of a notice format on the portal does not invalidate service if actual service is established, but an adjudication order cannot be enforced until the prescribed summary and demand form are properly uploaded and communicated.

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