IndiaAudit Lens

Section 113 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XVIII, Appeals and Revision

Parts of this section are overridden by Section 117 and Section 118; read it with them.

At a glance

Bars, duties and time limits

113(2)Sufficient cause and written reasons permit adjournment, but no party may receive more than three.

Procedure, powers and definitions

113(1)After hearing parties, confirm, modify or annul, or send the case to the appellate, revisional or original authority with directions for a fresh decision and additional evidence if needed.
113(3)Correct an apparent error noticed by the Tribunal or brought by the specified Commissioner or other party within three months of the order. A hearing is required before enhancing assessment, reducing refund or credit, or otherwise increasing liability.
113(4)–(6)Hear and decide within one year as far as possible. Send orders to the relevant lower authority, appellant and jurisdictional Commissioner. Finality is subject to sections 117 and 118.
113The law does not settle sufficient cause for adjournment, whether the correction period limits noticing or amendment, or the consequence or justification required for delay beyond the target.

The Tribunal can confirm, modify, annul or remit an appealed decision after hearing the parties. Adjournments need sufficient cause and written reasons, with a limit for each party. Corrections that worsen a party’s position require a hearing. Appeals should be decided within one year as far as possible, and orders bind subject to the High Court and Supreme Court routes.^[1]

Quick facts

Section 113, CGST Act, 2017

Orders of Appellate Tribunal

Provision
Act	Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Chapter	XVIII, Appeals and Revision
Section title	Orders of Appellate Tribunal
In force from	1 July 2017^[1]
Amendments
Last amendment	1 July 2017: brought the section as enacted into force (none; the source's commencement line)
Amendments	1 footnote in the CBIC text (table)
Related provisions
Rules	Rule 113A of the CGST Rules, 2017
Sections	107, 108, 111, 112, 117, 118
Structure 113(1)The hearing and the order on the appeal 113(2) and its provisoAdjournment of the hearing 113(3) and its provisoAmendment to rectify an error apparent on the face of the record 113(4)The period of one year for hearing and deciding the appeal 113(5)The copies of the order 113(6)Finality of the order and its binding effect
Source
Law text	CBIC tax information portal, served on 17 September 2026^[1]
Questions reviewed	Prashant Prakash, 22 September 2026

Text

The text below is the section as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.^[1] The Act as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.

Section 113, verbatim (show)

* Section 113. Orders of Appellate Tribunal.-

(1) The Appellate Tribunal may, after giving the parties to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, confirming, modifying or annulling the decision or order appealed against or may refer the case back to the Appellate Authority, or the Revisional Authority or to the original adjudicating authority, with such directions as it may think fit, for a fresh adjudication or decision after taking additional evidence, if necessary.

(2) The Appellate Tribunal may, if sufficient cause is shown, at any stage of hearing of an appeal, grant time to the parties or any of them and adjourn the hearing of the appeal for reasons to be recorded in writing:

Provided that no such adjournment shall be granted more than three times to a party during hearing of the appeal.

(3) The Appellate Tribunal may amend any order passed by it under sub-section (1) so as to rectify any error apparent on the face of the record, if such error is noticed by it on its own accord, or is brought to its notice by the Commissioner or the Commissioner of State tax or the Commissioner of the Union territory tax or the other party to the appeal within a period of three months from the date of the order:

Provided that no amendment which has the effect of enhancing an assessment or reducing a refund or input tax credit or otherwise increasing the liability of the other party, shall be made under this sub-section, unless the party has been given an opportunity of being heard.

(4) The Appellate Tribunal shall, as far as possible, hear and decide every appeal within a period of one year from the date on which it is filed.

(5) The Appellate Tribunal shall send a copy of every order passed under this section to the Appellate Authority or the Revisional Authority, or the original adjudicating authority, as the case may be, the appellant and the jurisdictional Commissioner or the Commissioner of State tax or the Union territory tax.

(6) Save as provided in section 117 or section 118, orders passed by the Appellate Tribunal on an appeal shall be final and binding on the parties.

*Enforced w.e.f . 1st July, 2017.

Questions to answer on the file

Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the section they come from. They describe what the section asks; they do not decide it.

Scope and what the matter is about the section as a whole

Questions to answer on the file2 questions

What does the matter concern?
Was the body that passed, or is to pass, the order the Appellate Tribunal?

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The hearing and the order on the appeal 113(1)

Questions to answer on the file6 questions

Has the Appellate Tribunal passed an order on the appeal, or is it about to?
Were the parties to the appeal given an opportunity of being heard before the order was passed?
What does the order do to the decision or order appealed against: confirms it, modifies it, annuls it or refers the case back for a fresh adjudication or decision?
If “refers the case back for a fresh adjudication or decision”: to which authority was the case referred back: the Appellate Authority, the Revisional Authority or the original adjudicating authority?
If question 3 is answered “refers the case back for a fresh adjudication or decision”: does the order carry the directions the Tribunal thought fit for that authority?
If question 3 is answered “refers the case back for a fresh adjudication or decision”: does the order direct additional evidence to be taken?

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Adjournment of the hearing 113(2) and its proviso

Questions to answer on the file4 questions

Was cause shown for the adjournment at a stage of the hearing of the appeal?
Is the cause shown sufficient cause?
Were the reasons for the adjournment recorded in writing?
How many times has the hearing been adjourned for that party during the hearing of the appeal?

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Amendment to rectify an error apparent on the face of the record 113(3) and its proviso

Questions to answer on the file9 questions

Is the order sought to be amended one passed by the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (1)?
Is the defect relied on an error apparent on the face of the record?
By whom was the error noticed, or brought to the notice of the Appellate Tribunal: the Appellate Tribunal on its own accord, the Commissioner, the Commissioner of State tax, the Commissioner of the Union territory tax or the other party to the appeal?
On what date was the order under sub-section (1) passed?
On what date was the error noticed or brought to the Tribunal's notice?
Does the three-month period bind the making of the amendment as well as the noticing of the error?
Was the error noticed or brought to notice within three months from the date of the order?
What effect does the proposed amendment have on the other party: enhancing an assessment, reducing a refund, reducing input tax credit, otherwise increasing the liability of the other party or none of these?
Unless “none of these”: was the other party given an opportunity of being heard before the amendment was made?

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The period of one year for hearing and deciding the appeal 113(4)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions

On what date was the appeal filed before the Appellate Tribunal?
On what date did the Appellate Tribunal hear and decide the appeal?
Was it possible for the Appellate Tribunal to hear and decide the appeal within one year of its filing?
Does anything follow under this section where the appeal was not heard and decided within that period?

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The copies of the order 113(5)

Questions to answer on the file5 questions

Which authority below the Appellate Tribunal was the copy required to be sent to: the Appellate Authority, the Revisional Authority or the original adjudicating authority?
Was a copy of the order sent to that authority?
Was a copy of the order sent to the appellant?
Was a copy of the order sent to the jurisdictional Commissioner?
Was a copy of the order sent to the Commissioner of State tax or of the Union territory tax?

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Finality of the order and its binding effect 113(6)

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Was the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal on an appeal?
Which of the provisions sub-section (6) saves has been invoked against the order: section 117, section 118 or none of them?
Is the person said to be bound by the order a party to the appeal?

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Amendment history

The CBIC text carries 1 footnote. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.^[1]

Amendments to section 113 as footnoted in the CBIC text
Note	Change	Instrument	Effective from
	brought the section as enacted into force	none; the source's commencement line	1 July 2017

Provisions connected to Section 113
Provision	Connection	Words that tie them
Section 112	Section 112 requires this provision	113(1) "pass such orders thereon", the appeal being the one filed under section 112
Section 107	this provision requires Section 107	113(1) "refer the case back to the Appellate Authority"
Section 108	this provision requires Section 108	113(1) "or the Revisional Authority"
Section 117	113(6) overridden by Section 117	113(6) "Save as provided in section 117"
Section 118	113(6) overridden by Section 118	113(6) "or section 118"
Section 111	Section 111 same as this provision	111(1) "the Appellate Tribunal shall have power to regulate its own procedure" — the same body, its procedure there and its orders here

Circulars and notifications

Circulars and notifications in the CBIC repository that cite this section, newest first, by number, date and subject. A listing here does not say what an instrument decides; read the instrument.

Circulars (1)

Number	Date	Subject
Circular No. 238/32/2024-GST	15 October 2024	Clarification of various doubts related to Section 128A of the CGST Act, 2017. amended by a later instrument

Notifications (2)

Number	Date	Subject
Notification No. 13/2025-Central Tax	17 September 2025	Seeks to notify the Central Goods and Services Tax (Third Amendment) Rules 2025.
Notification No. 12/2024-Central Tax	10 July 2024	Seeks to make amendments (Amendment, 2024) to the CGST Rules, 2017.

Unsettled questions

The words of section 113 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

What is "sufficient cause" for granting time and adjourning a hearing.
What makes a defect an error apparent on the face of the record.
Whether the period fixed in a rectification provision limits only the noticing of the error, which is where the words sit, or the making of the amendment as well, which the sub-section leaves undated.
What follows where a period a sub-section fixes "as far as possible" is exceeded: the sub-section names neither a consequence nor anything that must be shown for the delay.

See also

Section 117 of the CGST Act, 2017: appeal to High Court
Section 118 of the CGST Act, 2017: appeal to Supreme Court

References

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 113. Orders of Appellate Tribunal". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 1. Retrieved 17 September 2026.

External links

CGST Act, 2017, Section 113 on the CBIC tax information portal