GoM on GST appellate tribunal recommends key relaxations on recruitments

The group of ministers recommended that bigger states such as Uttar Pradesh can have more than one appellate authority, with a maximum of five such bodies

The main bottlenecks in the formation of the GST (goods and services tax) Appellate Tribunal in states and Union Territories may have been done away with after a group of ministers (GoM), chaired by Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, recommended that states can relax the experience criteria necessary for the appointment of officers as technical members in the panel.

For representational purposes only. (PTI Photo)

The group also recommended that bigger states such as Uttar Pradesh can have more than one appellate authority, with a maximum of five such bodies.

A GST Appellate Tribunal is a body that has been set up to hear appeals against orders that are passed by the GST Appellate Authority.

The six-member group of ministers, also comprising Odisha finance minister Niranjan Pujari, Andhra Pradesh finance minister Buggana Rajendranath, Goa industries minister Mauvin Godinho, Rajasthan law minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal and Uttar Pradesh finance minister Suresh Khanna, that met in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday recommended that the section in the Central GST Act, 2017 should be amended to facilitate quicker formation of the appellate tribunals.

“We have recommended that the state governments, on the recommendation of the GST council, may reduce the requirement of 25 years of service in Group A through a notification for such posts,” Pujari said.

The 25-year experience was a major roadblock because in some states, the entry level of direct recruitment is not at the Group A level, resulting in a situation where even the senior-most officer may not have spent that many years in the category.

Pujari said the recommendations will be submitted to the GST Council at the next meeting, likely in September.