Filing a First Appeal: APL-01

The first appeal is often lost before anyone reads the grounds. It may be filed a few days after the outer limit. It may be filed against the original order after a rectification has replaced it. The pre-deposit may be short. Or the person may not know whether the appeal was ever “filed” at all, because the portal issued a provisional acknowledgement and nothing more. Each of these is a filing question, not a question of merits.

This guide covers the filing of FORM GST APL-01 under section 107 and rule 108 of the CGST Rules: the time limit and how the courts have read its outer edge, the documents, the portal steps, signing, and the acknowledgement in FORM GST APL-02. The pre-deposit has its own guide, Pre-Deposit, and the Stay of Recovery. Where the appeal sits on the ladder is in The Appeal Ladder.

The time limit: three months, then one more

Section 107(1) allows an appeal “within three months from the date on which the said decision or order is communicated to such person”. The clock runs from communication, not from the date printed on the order. Section 169 lists the modes of service, one of which is making the order available on the common portal. FORM GST APL-01 asks for the “Date of communication of the order appealed against” as a separate item. The portal pre-fills a date of communication, which its manual says the appellant can edit.

Section 107(4) adds a further month: the Appellate Authority “may, if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the appeal within the aforesaid period of three months … allow it to be presented within a further period of one month”. An appeal in that fourth month must explain the delay. APL-01 asks “Whether appeal is being filed after the prescribed period” and, if so, for the period of and reasons for the delay.

Beyond four months: the courts are divided

Section 107(4) does not say “but not thereafter”. Whether an appeal can be admitted after four months has divided the High Courts.

The strict view. In M/s Addichem Speciality LLP v Special Commissioner I, Department of Trade and Taxes (Delhi High Court, Division Bench, W.P.© 14279/2024 and connected petitions, 7 February 2025), several registrations had been cancelled and demands raised. The appeals were filed months or more than a year after the orders, and the Appellate Authorities dismissed them as time-barred. In the lead case, a registration was cancelled on 27 October 2022 and the appeal filed on 12 February 2024. The Court held that “once a statute prescribes a specific period of limitation, the Appellate Authority does not inherently hold any power to condone the delay” under section 5 or 29 of the Limitation Act, 1963. It relied on the Supreme Court’s reading of the identically structured excise provision in Singh Enterprises v Commissioner of Central Excise ((2008) 3 SCC 70). There the Court said the appellate authority “has no power to allow the appeal to be presented beyond the period of 30 days”. It also relied on Assistant Commissioner (CT), LTU, Kakinada v Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Ltd ((2020) 19 SCC 681), for the point that the writ court too must respect the statutory limit. All the petitions were dismissed. The Delhi High Court has applied Addichem in later cases.

The contrary view. The Calcutta High Court holds the opposite. In S.K. Chakraborty & Sons v Union of India (Division Bench, reported at (2024) 159 taxmann.com 259), and again in Ram Kumar Sinhal v State of West Bengal (Division Bench, MAT 53 of 2025, 28 July 2025), it held that “the timelines stipulated in Section 107(4) of the WBGST Act are not mandatory and the provisions of the Limitation Act are applicable”. Its reasoning was textual. Section 107(6) uses negative, mandatory words (“No appeal shall be filed … unless”). Section 107(4) does not. Under section 29(2) of the Limitation Act, an exclusion must be express. The Ram Kumar Sinhal passage records that “an order of stay has been passed” in respect of S.K. Chakraborty, and holds that the stay does not take away its value as a precedent. A single judge applied the line in Sudesh Raya Majhi v State of West Bengal (W.P.A. No. 2333 of 2025, 11 February 2026), where an appeal three days out of time was restored. The Ram Kumar Sinhal reasoning is read here as quoted in that order. Addichem records that the Andhra Pradesh High Court has also applied the Limitation Act. It declined to follow that view.

Where that leaves the reader. Outside the Calcutta High Court, the weight of authority treats four months from communication as the outer limit before the Appellate Authority. The operation of S.K. Chakraborty itself has been stayed, as the later Division Bench records, so the question is not settled. Whether a writ court will intervene in an exceptional case, such as an order never effectively communicated, is discussed in Writ Petitions in GST Matters.

A one-time relief existed for older orders. Notification No. 53/2023-Central Tax (2 November 2023) let a person who missed the limit for a section 73 or 74 order passed on or before 31 March 2023 appeal by 31 January 2024. The pre-deposit was 12.5 per cent of the disputed tax, at least 20 per cent of it paid in cash. That window has closed.

When the appeal counts as filed

Rule 108 was rewritten twice:

• Notification No. 26/2022-Central Tax (26 December 2022) substituted sub-rule (3). Before that, a certified copy of the order had to be submitted within seven days in every case. Now, where the order “is uploaded on the common portal”, a final acknowledgement in FORM GST APL-02 is issued, and “the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgment shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal”. A self-certified copy is needed only where the order is not on the portal. It is due within seven days, failing which “the date of submission of such copy shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal”.
• Notification No. 38/2023-Central Tax (4 August 2023) made electronic filing the rule. An appeal may be filed manually only if “the Commissioner has so notified” or it “cannot be filed electronically due to non-availability of the decision or order … on the common portal”.

The Explanation to rule 108 still governs: “the appeal shall be treated as filed only when the final acknowledgement, indicating the appeal number, is issued.” APL-02 records the reference number, date and time of filing, the pre-deposit and the date of appearance.

What to have ready

Item	Where it comes from
The order, its annexures and the summary (DRC-07, DRC-08, or the registration or refund order)	Portal, ORDERS tab
Order number and date; date of communication	The order; portal; email or postal record
Whether a rectification application is pending or decided	Portal case folder
The amounts admitted and disputed, by tax head and by tax, interest, penalty, fee	The order; the person’s working
Statement of facts, grounds of appeal and prayer	Drafted on the portal’s Annexure to APL-01 template
Supporting documents	The person’s records
Pre-deposit and admitted amount, and any earlier payments against the demand	Electronic cash and credit ledgers; electronic liability register
Place-of-supply break-up for any admitted IGST	The order
Explanation and evidence for any delay	The person’s records

The form

FORM GST APL-01 has eighteen items. The ones that decide the appeal’s fate are:

• Items 5 to 7: the order number and date, the officer, and the date of communication. These fix the Appellate Authority and the clock.
• Item 9: the issue, the goods or services, the period, and the amount under dispute by head.
• Items 11 to 13: statement of facts, grounds of appeal, prayer. On the portal these go into the Annexure template, saved as PDF and uploaded.
• Item 14: demand created, admitted and disputed. The pre-deposit is calculated from the disputed tax.
• Item 15: payment of the admitted amount and the pre-deposit, with the ledger and debit entry used.
• Items 16 and 17: whether the appeal is late, the period of delay and the reasons.
• Verification: a declaration that the information is true and correct.

A ground omitted from the appeal can be added at the hearing only if the omission “was not wilful or unreasonable” (section 107(10)). Grounds left out at filing are therefore not certain to be heard.

Filing on the portal

The GST portal’s manual, “Filing an Appeal against Demand Order (FORM GST APL-01)”, describes these steps:

1. Services > User Services > My Applications. Select “Appeal to Appellate Authority” and click NEW APPLICATION.
2. Select the order type, for example “Assessment-Demand Order”. Say whether the order covers multiple financial years, which the portal allows for DRC-07 and DRC-08. Enter the order number and click SEARCH. The manual notes two blocks. An order under revision cannot be appealed. If rectification has already been filed, the appeal lies “only for the said Rectified order, but not against the original order”.
3. Select the category of the case under dispute and click ADD. The date of communication and period are displayed and may be edited.
4. Download the Annexure to APL-01 template, complete it, save it as PDF and upload it (maximum 5 MB).
5. Click DISPUTED AMOUNT/PAYMENT DETAILS and enter the amounts under dispute. The amount disputed cannot exceed the demand created.
6. Set the pre-deposit percentage. The default is 10 per cent. A lower figure brings up a warning.
7. Click UTILIZE ITC/CASH and set off the admitted amount and pre-deposit from the ledgers. A payment reference number is issued.
8. Add up to four supporting documents, in PDF or JPEG, 5 MB each. The manual says the rest “can be handed over in hard copy”.
9. PREVIEW, select the authorised signatory, enter the place, PROCEED TO FILE, and submit with DSC or EVC.

The portal issues a provisional acknowledgement and sends an email and SMS. A saved draft is deleted if it is not submitted within 15 days. There are separate manuals for appeals against registration, refund, enforcement, “manual” and “other” orders. Their steps are similar, without the pre-deposit screens where there is no demand.

Who signs, and how

Under rule 108(2), the grounds and verification “shall be signed in the manner specified in rule 26”. Rule 26(1) requires a registered company to verify with a digital signature certificate. Others may use DSC, e-signature or EVC. The portal’s FAQ says “DSC is mandatory for companies and LLPs”. The form is signed by the authorised signatory registered on the portal. Item 8 of APL-01 names any authorised representative, who may appear for the appellant under section 116.

After filing: admission, rejection, withdrawal

The appeal goes to the Appellate Authority’s queue. The portal’s FAQ lists the statuses, from “Appeal Submitted” and “Appeal admitted” or “Appeal Rejected” through to “Appeal Order Passed”.

• Rejected at admission. The manual and FAQ say an appeal rejected at the admission stage can be filed once more, against the same order ID.
• Withdrawal. Rule 109C allows withdrawal in FORM GST APL-01/03W at any time before a show cause notice under section 107(11) or the order, whichever is earlier. Once APL-02 has issued, withdrawal needs the Appellate Authority’s approval, to be decided within seven days. A fresh appeal after withdrawal must still be within the section 107 time limit. The portal’s FAQ adds that an appeal can be withdrawn twice. On an approved withdrawal, it says, the amount paid “is set of[f] against the demand ID” and only the remainder is payable.

What can still be put right

• A ground omitted can be added at the hearing if the omission was not wilful or unreasonable.
• An order that is not on the portal can still be appealed. The self-certified copy is due within seven days to keep the date of filing.
• An appeal withdrawn before admission, or rejected at admission, can be refiled, but only within the time limit.
• An error apparent in the original order can be rectified under section 161. After that, the appeal lies against the rectified order. See The Order, Rectification, and the Clock for Appeal.
• Delay beyond four months cannot be condoned by the Appellate Authority on the view of most High Courts. The Calcutta High Court holds otherwise.

The steps in order

1. Find the date of communication and count three months. Note the fourth month and its condition of sufficient cause.
2. Check whether the order is under rectification or revision. Appeal the order that will stand.
3. Separate admitted from disputed amounts, and tax from interest and penalty.
4. Draft the statement of facts, grounds and prayer, including every ground intended to be argued.
5. On the portal, open APL-01, find the order, upload the Annexure, enter the disputed amounts and pay the admitted amount and pre-deposit.
6. Attach supporting documents, preview, and sign with DSC (compulsory for a company) or EVC.
7. Keep the provisional acknowledgement. If the order was not on the portal, upload a self-certified copy within seven days.
8. Watch for the final acknowledgement in APL-02. Only then is the appeal filed.

The next guide covers the pre-deposit: how much, the caps, penalty-only orders, paying from the credit ledger, and the stay of recovery that payment brings.