Due to the countrywide lockdown, there is some strict restriction imposed on various activities, and everyone has to maintain social distancing. To handle the situation business houses and government boards are doing changes in their work process and they are utilizing a digital mode of communication. In this same view Virtual hearing over Whatsapp has been allowed related to indirect taxes 
Thane tax zone authorities released a notice dated May 18 and issued standard procedure for conducting the Virtual hearings over Whatsapp. The notice states that “Whatsapp video conferencing has been considered as on such suitable mode for video conferencing because it also has ‘end to end encryption’ and has a huge reach amongst common people,”.
As per the notice, the facility will be utilized until a better, more secure, and easier mode is established. Whatsapp has more than 400 million users in India and there is a huge growth that has been reported in these types of messaging apps. The directions in the notice also follow the guidelines of CBIC released in April month, which allowed field officers to conduct hearing through video conferencing of the appellant or respondent.
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The standard measures are identical to the instruction released by CBIC, standard measures by the State government are, Parties must agree on hearing through Whatsapp app, they have to provide their number, then the authority will inform them about the time and date of the hearing. Parties have to confirm their presence 15 minutes prior to the given date and time, via text by the provided number.
The WhatsApp communication will be used by the authority to send hearing memos in PDF post-hearing. The notice or the concerned person has to send back the same after signing to the authority on the same number within 15 minutes after receiving it.
