The Rajasthan GST Department vide Order No. F.17 ( ) ACCT/GST/20 /286 dated February 20, 2025 has issued guidelines for virtual hearings in all taxation-related cases, including GST, VAT, and others, to ease business operations. Hearings will be mandatory in virtual mode, with in-person appearances allowed only with prior permission. Taxpayers will receive hearing details and links via registered email or mobile number. Representatives must submit authorization letters and photo IDs in advance. Virtual hearings will be conducted through specified applications, with tele-conferencing as a backup for technical issues. Submissions will be noted and uploaded in PDF format on the Boweb portal. Documents can be submitted digitally or physically at district facilitation desks. These guidelines apply to all acts administered by the Commercial Taxes Department and are effective immediately.
Provisions for opportunity of hearing have been made in various sections of the RGST/CGST Act, 2017 specially those pertaining to adjudication, determination of tax and appeals under the said Acts. In Rajasthan, provisions have also been made for faceless scrutiny as well as carrying out of Business Audit and Enforcement pertaining to the taxpayers not just by the jurisdictional Proper Officers but also by the officers posted in the Business Audit and Enforcement Wings. In such a scenario, it becomes increasingly difficult for the taxpayers or their authorized representatives to appear in person for submission of documents or for personal hearing. Therefore, as per para 143 of her Budget Speech 2025-26 pertaining to Ease of Doing Business, the following announcement has been made: –
“143. I announce to provide the facility of hearing through video conferencing in all taxation related cases like GST, VAT, MV Act, Stamps Act etc. Besides, it is proposed to provide the facility of document submission and verification through Facilitation Desks at the district level in relation to the action taken from the headquarters level.”
In pursuance of the aforesaid para and in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 168 of the RGST Act, 2017, it is hereby directed as under: –
During the proceedings in any case pertaining to the said Acts, all hearings shall mandatorily be carried out in virtual mode and no person shall be required to appear in person for personal hearing except with the prior permission of the concerned Additional Commissioner in cases where the taxpayer or his authorized representative has requested in writing for an in-person personal hearing.
The date and time of hearing along with a link for the virtual hearing shall be informed well in advance to the taxpayer or his authorized representative through the registered email id or mobile number giving the details of Proper Officer who shall be conducting the virtual hearing and the application or facility through which the virtual hearing shall be carried out. This link shall not be shared with any other person without the consent of the said officer.
In case of any authorized representative representing the taxpayer in virtual hearing, he shall be required to submit his vakalatnama or authorization letter along with the copy of his photo-id card and contact details well in advance to the said officer, devoid of which he shall not be allowed to represent the taxpayer.
The Virtual hearing shall be held from the office of the Proper Officer through the pre-intimated application and link provided for the same. The taxpayer or his authorized representative shall be required to download the required application on their computer system/ laptop/ mobile phone beforehand and be ready with appropriate network connectivity and bandwidth for the virtual hearing and join the same at the time and date allocated to them.
In case of any technical issue in connecting for the virtual hearing, the taxpayer or his authorized representative may be joined through tele-conferencing through mobile phone for which they shall be required to keep their phone(s) available for incoming calls.
All persons participating in the virtual hearing shall be appropriately dressed and shall be required to maintain the decorum and dignity at all times.
The submissions made by the taxpayer or his authorized representative through the virtual hearing shall be noted in writing and a statement of the same shall be prepared so as to be uploaded in PDF format under the respective ‘Proceedings’ tab on the Boweb portal.
In addition to the virtual hearing, in case the taxpayer or his authorized representative need to submit any documents during the proceedings of the case, the same shall be submitted digitally through the registered Email id and no physical submission of documents shall be sought for.
In cases of requirement of submission of physical set of documents the same shall be submitted after due attestation by the taxpayer or his authorized representative on every page, to the Nodal Officer at the facilitation desk at the respective district Headquarter during working hours. The Nodal Officer shall issue receipt for the documents so receipt physically and also verity that the documents submitted are in parity with the documents required by the Proper Officer. The list of the said Nodal Officers is enclosed herewith as Annexure-I.
After receipt of the said documents, the nodal officer shall arrange for sending them to the concerned officer so as to reach him maximum within five working days.
The proceedings of virtual hearing as well as the documents submitted in the above manner shall be deemed to be valid documents for the purpose of the RGST/CGST Act, 2017 in terms of Section 145 of the said Acts, read with Section 4 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
This shall come into force immediately and shall also apply to all other Acts administered by the Commercial taxes Department.
The Guidelines/Order can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Regarding-Guidelines-for-Virtual-Hearing.pdf
