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 152, verbatim (show)
* Section 152. Bar on disclosure of information.-
(1) No information 1[****]with respect to any matter given for the purposes of section 150 or section 151 shall, without the previous consent in writing of the concerned person or his authorised representative, be published in such manner so as to enable such particulars to be identified as referring to a particular person and no such information shall be used for the purpose of any proceedings under this Act 2[without giving an opportunity of being heard to the person concerned]. 3[****]
(3) Nothing in this section shall apply to the publication of any information relating to a class of taxable persons or class of transactions, if in the opinion of the Commissioner, it is desirable in the public interest to publish such information. * Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017.
1. Omitted (w.e.f. 1st January, 2022 vide Notification No. 39/2021-C.T., dated 21st December, 2021) by s. 120(a)(i) of The Finance Act, 2021 (No. 13 of 2021) dated 28th March, 2021 for "of any individual return or part thereof".
2. Inserted (w.e.f. 1st January, 2022 vide Notification No. 39/2021-C.T., dated 21st December, 2021) by s. 120(a)(ii) of The Finance Act, 2021 (No. 13 of 2021) dated 28th March, 2021.
3. Omitted (w.e.f. 1st January, 2022 vide Notification No. 39/2021-C.T., dated 21st December, 2021) by s. 120(a)(iii) of The Finance Act, 2021 (No. 13 of 2021) dated 28th March, 2021 for "(2) Except for the purposes of prosecution under this Act or any other Act for the time being in force, no person who is not engaged in the collection of statistics under this Act or compilation or computerisation thereof for the purposes of this Act, shall be permitted to see or have access to any information or any individual return referred to in section 151."
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 the section as a whole
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
The bar on publishing the information so as to identify a particular person 152(1), the publication limb
Questions to answer on the file7 questions
The bar on using the information for the purpose of proceedings under this Act 152(1), the use limb
Questions to answer on the file6 questions
The publication to which nothing in this section applies 152(3)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Amendment history
The CBIC text carries 4 footnotes. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.[1]
| Note | Change | Instrument | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enforced the section | — | 1st July, 2017 | |
| 1 | Omitted words from sub-section (1) at the place shown as 1[]. The source preserves the words omitted, "of any individual return or part thereof" | s. 120(a)(i) of The Finance Act, 2021 (No. 13 of 2021) dated 28th March, 2021 | 1st January, 2022 |
| 2 | Inserted the words "without giving an opportunity of being heard to the person concerned" at the end of sub-section (1) | s. 120(a)(ii) of The Finance Act, 2021 (No. 13 of 2021) dated 28th March, 2021 | 1st January, 2022 |
| 3 | Omitted sub-section (2), shown in the text as 3[]. The source preserves the words omitted, which barred a person not engaged in the collection of statistics from seeing or having access to information or an individual return referred to in section 151 | s. 120(a)(iii) of The Finance Act, 2021 (No. 13 of 2021) dated 28th March, 2021 | 1st January, 2022 |
Relationship with other provisions
| Provision | Connection | Words that tie them |
|---|---|---|
| Section 150 | 152(1) requires Section 150 | 152(1) "with respect to any matter given for the purposes of section 150" |
| Section 151 | 152(1) requires Section 151 | 152(1) "given for the purposes of section 150 or section 151" |
Circulars and notifications
No circular or notification in the CBIC repository is recorded as citing this section.
Unsettled questions
The words of section 152 do not answer this question. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.
- Who is "the concerned person" whose previous consent in writing releases the bar on publication, and who is "the person concerned" to whom the opportunity of being heard must be given before the information is used: the person who furnished the information for the purposes of section 150 or section 151, or the person to whom the particulars refer? Section 150 obliges sixteen classes of person to furnish an information return about other people's transactions, so the two are ordinarily different people, and section 151 lets information be called for from one person about another. The sub-section names neither, and the two readings give opposite answers whenever consent is obtained from one of them alone.
See also
- Section 150 of the CGST Act, 2017: obligation to furnish information return
- Section 151 of the CGST Act, 2017: power to call for information
- Section 158A of the CGST Act, 2017: consent based sharing of information furnished by taxable person
References
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 152. Bar on disclosure of information". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 4. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
External links
- CGST Act, 2017, Section 152 on the CBIC tax information portal