Article on Notices/Orders issued without Digital Signature-Valid or not?

Notices/Orders issued without Digital Signature-Valid or not?

As we know that the GST department issues a notice or order on the GST portal. The taxpayer can download the same in PDF from their GST Portal. However, sometimes it can be seen that such notices or orders do not contain the digital signatures of the officers. Hence the question arises about the validity of such notices or orders which are issued without digital signatures. In this article we are going to examine the position of law to know more in detail about this topic.

First of all it is necessary to know whether uploading a notice or order on the GST portal is a valid mode of serving? Section 169(1) of the CGST Act 2017 states that any decision, order, summons, notice or other communication shall be served by;

(a) giving or tendering it directly or by a messenger including courier; or
(b) by registered post or speed post or courier with acknowledgement due;
(c) e-mail to registered address;
(d) by making it available on the common portal; or
(e) by publication in a newspaper circulating in the locality ;
(f) if none of the modes aforesaid is practicable, by affixing it in some conspicuous place at his last known place of business or residence and if such mode is not practicable for any reason, then by affixing a copy thereof on the notice board of the office of the concerned officer or authority who or which passed such decision or order or issued such summons or notice.

Thus from the above it is clear that serving a notice on the common portal is a valid mode. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of the registered person to view the notices or orders on timely basis on their GST Portal.

Now, we move towards the question of validity of notices or orders which are uploaded on the portal without digital signatures of the officer who has passed such notices or orders.

Sub rule 3 of rule 26 of CGST Rules 2017, all notices, certificates and orders under the provisions of this Chapter shall be issued electronically by the proper officer or any other officer authorised to issue such notices or certificates or orders, through digital signature certificate or through E-signature as specified under the provisions of the IT Act, 2000 or verified by any other mode of signature or verification as notified by the Board in this behalf.

Thus, it is explicitly clear that electronic communications are valid only when authenticated through DSC / e-signature.

Relevant Judicial Pronouncements:

1. Telangana High Court in case of Bigleap Technologies and Solutions Private Limited [2025(02)LCX0129] held that Unsigned show-cause notices and final orders under GST even when uploaded online, are invalid because the signature column in the prescribed forms constitutes a mandatory statutory requirement for authenticity.

2. Telangana High Court in case of Silver Oak Villas LLP [2024(03)LCX0409] has also held that SCN and assessment order were not digitally or physically signed amounts to contravention of Rule 26(3) of the CGST Rules thus GST order set aside

3. Andhra Pradesh High Court in case of A V Bhanoji Row Versus Assistant Commissioner (ST) [2023(02)LCX0186] held that section 169 of the Act, which deals with the service of notice, enables the department to make available any decision, order, Summons, Notice or other communication in the common portal. In the guise of the same, the signatures cannot be dispensed with - In the considered opinion of this court, the aforesaid provisions of law would not come to the rescue of the respondent herein, for justifying the impugned action.

4. Telangana High Court in case of High Noon Consulting Private Limited Versus The Deputy Commissioner of State Tax [2024(07)LCX0472] held that the impugned order in the instant case would lose its efficacy in the light of requirement of Rule 26(3) of the CGST Rules 2017 since it is an un-signed document. The show cause notice as also the impugned order both would not be sustainable and the same deserves to be and is accordingly set aside/quashed. However, the right of the respondents would stand reserved to take appropriate steps strictly in accordance with law governing the field.

Advisory issued on GST Portal:

In this regard it is important to note that on 26/09/2024 the GSTN has also issued an advisory on Notices/Orders without digital signatures of the issuing authorities. In this advisory it is stated by the GSTN that the Notices / Orders are generated on the common portal from the login of the officer, who logs in through Digital Signatures which are computer generated on the command of the officer and may not require physical signatures of the officer as these documents can be issued by the officer only after logging into the common portal using Digital Signature. Thus, all these documents in JSON format containing the order details along with the issuing officer details are stored in the GST system with the digital signature of the issuing officer.

The validity of these documents can also be verified by the taxpayer pre-login as well as after login from the GST common portal by navigating to the following path:

Post-login: www.gst.gov.in-->Dashboard-->Services-->User Services-->Verify RFN

Thus the said advisory assures taxpayers that documents issued without a visible digital signature are still valid, as the officer must use digital signature authentication to perform these actions on the portal.

Conclusion:

Although the various High Courts have held the notices/orders uploaded on the common portal as invalid when they are not authenticated with digital signatures, yet the GSTN has issued the above advisory which is contrary to the court decisions. Hence it can be a matter of litigation that notices or orders uploaded on the common portal without digital signatures of proper officers are valid as per the advisory. However the advisory issued by GSTN can�t override the law, since it is clearly mentioned in rule 26(3) that all notices, certificates and orders issued electronically by the proper officer should contain digital signature certificate or E-signature.

Disclaimer: The information given in this article is solely for purpose of understanding the law. It is completely based on the interpretation of the author and cannot be constituted as a legal advise, the author of this article and Lawcrux team is not responsible for any legal issues if arises on the basis of the interpretation given above.