CGST Act · Chapter II
Administration
s. 3Officers under this Act
Section 3 sets out the hierarchy of central tax officers. It does not assign them functions — that is done under section 5 and the "proper officer" definition — but it fixes the ranks, and carried the existing central excise officers into GST.
- Section 3 of the CGST Act, 2017 lets the Government appoint, by notification, nine classes of central tax officers, from Principal Chief Commissioner (or Principal Director General) down to Assistant Commissioner (or Assistant Director), and any other class it thinks fit.
- Under the proviso, officers appointed under the Central Excise Act, 1944 are deemed to be officers appointed under the CGST Act.
- Section 3 came into force on 22.06.2017, so that officers were in place before the levy began on 01.07.2017.
s. 4Appointment of Officers
Section 4 adds to section 3. The Board may appoint any persons it thinks fit as officers, and may authorise officers of Assistant Commissioner rank and above to appoint the officers below them — the Superintendents and Inspectors who do much of the day-to-day work.
- Under section 4(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 the Board may appoint officers in addition to those notified under section 3.
- Under section 4(2) the Board may, by order, authorise officers in clauses (a) to (h) of section 3 to appoint officers of central tax below the rank of Assistant Commissioner.
s. 5Powers of officers under GST
Section 5 is the source of an officer's power to act. Read with the definition of "proper officer" in section 2(91) and the Board's assignment circulars, it decides whether a particular officer could issue a particular summons, notice or order — the first question in many GST disputes.
- Under section 5 of the CGST Act, 2017 an officer of central tax may exercise the powers conferred on him under the Act, subject to conditions and limitations imposed by the Board.
- An officer may exercise the powers of any officer subordinate to him (section 5(2)); a Commissioner may delegate his powers to a subordinate (section 5(3)).
- An Appellate Authority may not exercise the powers of any other officer (section 5(4)).
- The functions of "proper officers" are assigned by CBIC Circular 3/3/2017-GST and, for demands under sections 73 and 74, Circular 31/05/2018-GST; the Delhi High Court upheld Circular 3/3/2017-GST in Lovelesh Singhal v CBIC (2026).
s. 6Cross-empowerment
Section 6 is the hinge of GST's dual administration. State and UT officers are proper officers for CGST too, an order by one administration carries the other's tax with it, and once one side has begun proceedings on a subject matter the other may not begin its own.
- Under section 6(1) of the CGST Act, 2017, officers appointed under the State GST Acts and the UTGST Act are authorised to be proper officers for the CGST Act, subject to conditions notified on the GST Council's recommendation.
- An order by a proper officer under the CGST Act must be matched by an order under the State or UT Act (section 6(2)(a)), so one order covers both taxes.
- Once a State or UT proper officer has initiated proceedings on a subject matter, a central officer may not initiate proceedings on the same subject matter (section 6(2)(b)).
- In Armour Security (India) Ltd v Commissioner, CGST (2025) the Supreme Court held that a summons or search is not "initiation of proceedings"; the bar applies from a show cause notice, and only where both sides pursue the same liability on the same facts.