CBIC will roll out an app-‘Samay’ to reduce litigation time

NEW DELHI : The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) will roll out an app to alert officials about timely disposition of tax appeals by tracking all cases under the litigation process, officials said.

Named ‘Samay’, the app will capture all the pending orders across levels from adjudicating officer to the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (Cestat) to High Courts, and reflect the pendency of review orders that are either under process at various levels or awaiting processing at the commissionerate level. The initiative will greatly reduce the litigation time, CBIC officials said.

“Zonal heads can assess how much time their team is taking to dispose of a case and a reminder will be issued every month after that,” a senior official told ET. The app was launched during the National Coordination Meeting held last month and will be formally made available to officials from January 15, officials said. ‘Samay’ will have the summary of all the cases and rulings, which can guide an official regarding the legal position on certain demands.

“Our focus is to reduce the litigation time and this technology through the app will help to achieve this,” said the official cited above. When the department raises a claim against a GST payer, the latter can contest the claim at various levels, starting from the adjudicating officer followed by appellate authority (commissioner of appeals) and then can move to tribunals. As of March 31, 2023, there were about 80,000 pending cases in Cestat, with an average pendency of 4-5 years, as per the revenue department.