HC Instructs Centre and Maharashtra Govt to Resolve GST Mayhem

In a statement released, the Bombay High Court has instructed the Maharashtra government and the Centre to provide solutions to the GST related issues of the citizens by April 24, 2018.

The bench issued the statement after a hearing in response to a petition which was filed by Abicor and Benzel Technoweld Pvt Ltd in February this year claiming that the e-way bill portal was not working properly and the petitioner was not able to generate e-way bills, which was affecting the transport of goods.

The bench, headed by Justices SC Dharamadhikari and PD Naik, said that the GST Council must also ensure that all facilities related to proper implementation of GST regime and services work properly by the above deadline so that citizens do not face any more problems.

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“We trust that the Central and state authorities will resolve all outstanding and pending problems being faced by citizens while following the provisions of the GST regime. The authorities must create necessary infrastructure and make the new system fully operational by the next date of hearing (April 24),” the bench said.

The petitioner (Abicor and Benzel Technoweld Pvt Ltd) argued in its petition that while the Central government has automated the complete tax return filing system through an electronic portal, it is impossible to generate e-way bills, file returns, pay tax, or follow any other compliances without accessing the online profile, which is inaccessible most of the time because of the server issues on the portal.

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The company had also claimed that it was late in filing its GST returns online due to technical issues on GST server and was asked by the state GST authorities to pay late fees.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who has been representing the state and Centre in this matter, clarified that the GST Commissioners had already held a joint meeting on March 1 with the petitioner firm and resolved the issues at their best. Singh also submitted a report which details the steps the state authorities are taking to resolve GST related issues.

After hearing both sides, the bench concluded that it hopes that both the state and the Centre will resolve all GST related problems by the end of April month.

This is not the first time when the bench is hearing this kind of petition. It has previously come across several similar petitions in different courts about GST related problems. In its official statement, the bench has instructed the Union government to get aware of the problem and provide the proper solution to those affected.