Revision: Section 108

An order can seem settled once no one has appealed against it for six months. Then a notice in FORM GST RVN-01 arrives from a senior officer. It says the order was “erroneous in so far as it is prejudicial to the interest of revenue”, that he intends to revise it, and that a reply is due within seven working days. Revision lets the department reopen an order that nobody appealed. It is also the route by which a refund already sanctioned, or an appellate order already obeyed, can be stayed. This guide covers who may revise, on what grounds, within what limits, how the notice and order work, and the appeal that follows.

Who may revise

Section 108(1) gives the power to “the Revisional Authority”. For central tax, Notification No. 05/2020-Central Tax (13 January 2020) authorises:

• the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, for decisions or orders of an Additional or Joint Commissioner
• an Additional or Joint Commissioner, for decisions or orders of a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner or a Superintendent

States designate their own revisional authorities under their State Acts. For orders of a Common Adjudicating Authority in DGGI cases, CBIC’s Circular No. 250/07/2025-GST (24 June 2025) makes the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner under whom that officer is posted the revisional authority. That officer may first seek DGGI’s comments.

The power extends to decisions or orders “passed under this Act or under the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act by any officer subordinate to him”. By section 108(6), “decision” includes “intimation given by any officer lower in rank than the Revisional Authority”, and “record” includes all records available when the authority examines the case. The power is “subject to the provisions of section 121”, so orders made non-appealable by section 121 are outside it.

The authority may act “on his own motion, or upon information received by him or on request from the Commissioner of State tax, or the Commissioner of Union territory tax”. The section also refers to orders revised “in consequence of an observation by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India”.

The grounds

The authority must consider that the decision or order:

is erroneous in so far as it is prejudicial to the interest of revenue and is illegal or improper or has not taken into account certain material facts, whether available at the time of issuance of the said order or not or in consequence of an observation by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Two conditions run through the words: an error, and prejudice to revenue. Courts have required both to appear in the authority’s own order.

M/s HCC VCCL Joint Venture v Union of India is cited here without a link (Delhi High Court, W.P.© 10940/2023, 5 November 2024; read on Indian Kanoon, not found on gst.bharattax.net). A refund of Rs 5.5 crore from the electronic cash ledger, made up of TDS credited by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, had been sanctioned on 9 December 2022. On 5 July 2023 the Commissioner, acting under section 108, placed the sanction in abeyance for six months. A corrigendum later changed that to two years. The ground was intelligence received after the refund suggesting wrongful availment of credit. The Court accepted that section 108 can stay “any order”, including a refund from the cash ledger. But it held that “the pre-requisite condition for invocation of Section 108 is the formation of an opinion” that the order under revision was erroneous, prejudicial, illegal or improper. An allegation about credit was “distinct and unconnected with the order sanctioning refund”. Absent any finding that the refund order itself was unsustainable, the stay was quashed. Liberty was left to proceed afresh in accordance with law.

M/s North End Food Marketing Pvt. Ltd. v State of U.P. is also cited without a link (Allahabad High Court, Writ Tax No. 309 of 2021, 31 August 2021; read on Indian Kanoon, not found on gst.bharattax.net). An appellate authority had set aside a blocking of credit under rule 86A. Departmental notings offered two options: a writ petition, or revision with a stay. The Commissioner chose revision and stayed the appellate order. He did so without calling for the appeal record, and in an order that gave no reasons. The Court described the preconditions as “error in the order passed by an officer subordinate to the revisional authority and prejudice to the interest of revenue”. It held that the authority “is required to call for and examine the record of such proceedings”. Exercising the power “in absence of relevant record merely on the basis of certain noting … is sheer misuse of the power”. The stay was set aside.

When revision is barred

Section 108(2) lists four bars. The authority “shall not exercise any power under sub-section (1), if”:

(a) the order has been subject to an appeal under section 107 or section 112 or section 117 or section 118; or (b) the period specified under sub-section (2) of section 107 has not yet expired or more than three years have expired after the passing of the decision or order sought to be revised; or © the order has already been taken for revision under this section at an earlier stage; or (d) the order has been passed in exercise of the powers under sub-section (1)

Read together, these give a window. Revision of an order cannot begin until the department’s six months to apply under section 107(2) have expired. It cannot begin more than three years after the order was passed. Revision is the route for an order that neither side took to appeal.

The proviso for points not decided in appeal. Where the order was appealed, the authority may still revise it “on any point which has not been raised and decided in an appeal”, before one year from the appellate order or before the three years in clause (b), “whichever is later”.

Time excluded. Two periods are left out of the three years:

• under section 108(4), where the same issue is pending before the High Court or Supreme Court in another case, the time between the Tribunal’s or High Court’s decision and the higher court’s decision, if revision was begun by a notice under the section
• under section 108(5), any period for which a court or the Tribunal has stayed the issue of the revision order

What “subject to an appeal” means. In M/s Buddha Resorts Private Limited v Chief Commissioner of Goods and Services Tax, Lucknow Zone (Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, Writ Tax No. 381 of 2024, 22 January 2025), the person had itself applied for revision of an order under section 73 instead of appealing. The revisional authority dismissed the application on the ground that an appeal lay. The Court held that the words “the order has been subject to an appeal under Section 107” mean “that against such an order an appeal has been filed”. They do not mean that a person must appeal first. It restored the revision for fresh decision. The Jharkhand High Court, in a batch where revision applications by taxpayers had been returned with a direction to appeal, decided the cases on other grounds and expressly left open “whether an Assessee can invoke jurisdiction under Section 108 of the JGST Act or not” (Prity Dokania v State of Jharkhand, W.P.(T) No. 745 of 2021 and connected petitions, Division Bench, 14 September 2022). Whether a taxpayer can set revision in motion by its own application is therefore not settled across courts. The section’s grounds are framed around prejudice to revenue.

Stay pending revision

Section 108(1) allows the authority, “if necessary”, to “stay the operation of such decision or order for such period as he deems fit”. In North End Food the stay of an appellate order was the action challenged. In HCC VCCL it was a stay of a refund. In both, the courts tested the stay against the same two conditions as a final revision order: an error in the order, and prejudice to revenue, found on the record.

The notice: FORM GST RVN-01

Rule 109B(1) applies “where the Revisional Authority decides to pass an order in revision under section 108 which is likely to affect the person adversely”. The authority “shall serve on him a notice in FORM GST RVN-01 and shall give him a reasonable opportunity of being heard”. Section 108(1) itself requires “an opportunity of being heard” and “such further inquiry as may be necessary”.

The form states that the decision or order “is erroneous in so far as it is prejudicial to the interest of revenue and is illegal or improper or has not taken into account certain material facts”. It says the authority intends to revise it “on grounds specified in the document attached herewith”. It then directs:

• a reply “within seven working days from the date of service of this notice”
• an appearance on a stated date and time

It warns that if the person fails to reply or to appear, “the case will be decided ex parte on the basis of available records and on merits”.

Portal effect. The GST portal’s user manual for appeals records that an order under revision proceedings is disabled for filing an appeal to the Appellate Authority, and an error message is displayed.

The order

Under section 108(1) the authority may pass “such order, as he thinks just and proper, including enhancing or modifying or annulling the said decision or order”. Rule 109B(2) requires a summary of the revision order in FORM GST APL-04, “clearly indicating the final amount of demand confirmed”. Section 108(3) makes the order “final and binding on the parties”, subject to sections 113, 117 and 118.

Appeal to the Tribunal

A revision order is appealed to the Appellate Tribunal, not the Appellate Authority. Section 112(1) gives the appeal to “any person aggrieved by an order passed against him under section 107 or section 108”. Section 112(3) lets the Commissioner direct an application against an order of “the Revisional Authority” as well. The time limits, forms, fees and the further pre-deposit are covered in Appealing to the GST Appellate Tribunal.

What to have ready

Item	Where it comes from
The RVN-01 and the document of grounds attached to it	Portal; service under section 169
The order under revision, its date of passing and its date of communication	Portal, ORDERS tab
Whether either side appealed the order, and any appellate order	Portal; APL-02 and APL-04
The full record before the officer who passed the order: notice, reply, documents, hearing record	Portal; the person’s own file
Any stay order passed under section 108(1)	Communication from the Revisional Authority
The ledger entries affected, such as a refund credited or credit unblocked	Portal; electronic ledgers

Who signs

RVN-01 and the revision order are signed by the Revisional Authority. The person’s reply is filed by the authorised signatory, with DSC or EVC where it is filed on the portal.

Rights and duties at each step

• On notice. The person is entitled to RVN-01 with the grounds attached, a reasonable opportunity of being heard, and an order on those grounds. The reply is due within seven working days, and the person is expected to appear on the date fixed.
• On a stay. A stay must rest on a view that the order is erroneous and prejudicial. That was the holding in HCC VCCL and North End Food.
• On the order. The person may appeal it to the Tribunal under section 112(1).

What can still be put right

• If a notice issues while the department’s six months under section 107(2) are still running, or more than three years after the order (after allowing the exclusions in section 108(4) and (5)), section 108(2)(b) bars the revision.
• An order already appealed can be revised only on a point not raised and decided in the appeal, within the time in the proviso.
• An adverse revision order can be appealed to the Tribunal.

The steps in order

1. The order is passed and communicated. No revision can begin until the six months for a departmental application under section 107(2) have expired.
2. The Revisional Authority calls for and examines the record and forms a view that the order is erroneous and prejudicial to revenue. If necessary, it stays the order.
3. Where the revision is likely to affect the person adversely, RVN-01 is served with the grounds. The reply is due in seven working days, with a hearing on the date fixed.
4. The authority passes its order enhancing, modifying or annulling the decision, with an APL-04 summary of the demand.
5. The person may appeal the revision order to the Appellate Tribunal under section 112(1).

The next guide covers the appeal to the GST Appellate Tribunal: its benches, the forms, the time limits and the pre-deposit.