Rule 162 of the CGST Rules, 2017

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GST›CGST Rules, 2017›Chapter XIX, Offences and Penalties

At a glance

Entitlement and conditions

  • 162(3A) provisoWhere more than one table category applies, the amount for the offence carrying the higher prescribed compounding amount is selected.
  • 162(4)–(5)The applicant must receive a hearing opportunity and rejection grounds must be stated. Approval requires payment of the tax, interest and penalty due in the case.

Bars, duties and time limits

  • 162(3A)The table determines the compounding amount by offence and punishment category. The stated bands for the listed tax, credit or refund amount include fifty to seventy-five per cent and forty to sixty per cent; specified categories use twenty-five per cent.
  • 162(6)–(7)The applicant must pay the ordered compounding amount and furnish proof within thirty days of receiving the order. Failure makes the order void.

Procedure, powers and definitions

  • 162(1)–(3)The applicant submits FORM GST CPD-01 under section 138. The Commissioner obtains the concerned officer’s report and may approve compounding with immunity on full and true disclosure, or reject it, through FORM GST CPD-02 within ninety days of receipt.
  • 162(8)The Commissioner may withdraw immunity at any time on satisfaction that material particulars were concealed or false evidence given. Prosecution may then proceed for the covered offence or a connected compounding offence as though immunity had not been granted.
  • 162The law does not settle the full-and-true disclosure standard, sufficient hearing opportunity, comparison of different compounding ranges, or whether multiple tax, credit and refund amounts are aggregated or tested separately.

Rule 162 sets the procedure for applying to compound an offence before or after prosecution begins. The Commissioner obtains a report, considers disclosure and decides the application through the prescribed order. Approval requires payment of the underlying tax, interest and penalty. The applicant must then pay the compounding amount within the stated period, and immunity remains subject to withdrawal for concealment or false evidence.[1]

Text

The text below is the rule 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 Rules as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.

Rule 162, verbatim (show)

Rule 162

Rule 162. Procedure for compounding of offences. -

(1) An applicant may, either before or after the institution of prosecution, make an application under sub-section (1) of section 138 in FORM GST CPD-01 to the Commissioner for compounding of an offence.

(2) On receipt of the application, the Commissioner shall call for a report from the concerned officer with reference to the particulars furnished in the application, or any other information, which may be considered relevant for the examination of such application.

(3) The Commissioner, after taking into account the contents of the said application, may, by order in FORM GST CPD-02, on being satisfied that the applicant 1[****] has made full and true disclosure of facts relating to the case, allow the application indicating the compounding amount and grant him immunity from prosecution or reject such application within ninety days of the receipt of the application.

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2[(3A) The Commissioner shall determine the compounding amount under sub-rule (3) as per the Table below:-

TABLE

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S.No

Offence

Compounding amount if offence is punishable under clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 132

Compounding amount if offence is punishable under clause (ii) of sub-section (1) of section 132

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

1

Offence specified in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

Up to seventy-five per cent of the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken, subject to minimum of fifty per cent of such amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken.

Up to sixty per cent of the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken, subject to minimum of forty per cent of such amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken.

2

Offence specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

3

Offence specified in clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

4

Offence specified in clause (e) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

5

Offence specified in clause (f) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

Amount equivalent to twenty-five per cent of tax evaded.

Amount equivalent to twenty-five per cent of tax evaded.

6

Offence specified in clause (h) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

7

Offence specified in clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

8

Attempt to commit the offences or abets the commission of offences mentioned in clause (a), (c) to (f) and clauses (h) and (i) of sub-section (1) of section 132 of the Act

Amount equivalent to twenty-five per cent of such amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken.

Amount equivalent to twenty-five per cent of such amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken.

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Provided that where the offence committed by the person falls under more than one category specified in the Table above, the compounding amount, in such case, shall be the amount determined for the offence for which higher compounding amount has been prescribed.]

(4) The application shall not be decided under sub-rule (3) without affording an opportunity of being heard to the applicant and recording the grounds of such rejection.

(5) The application shall not be allowed unless the tax, interest and penalty liable to be paid have been paid in the case for which the application has been made.

(6) The applicant shall, within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt of the order under sub-rule (3), pay the compounding amount as ordered by the Commissioner and shall furnish the proof of such payment to him.

(7) In case the applicant fails to pay the compounding amount within the time specified in sub-rule (6), the order made under sub-rule (3) shall be vitiated and be void.

(8) Immunity granted to a person under sub-rule (3) may, at any time, be withdrawn by the Commissioner, if he is satisfied that such person had, in the course of the compounding proceedings, concealed any material particulars or had given false evidence. Thereupon such person may be tried for the offence with respect to which immunity was granted or for any other offence that appears to have been committed by him in connection with the compounding proceedings and the provisions the Act shall apply as if No such immunity had been granted.

1. Omitted vide Notification No. 38/2023-CT dated 04.08.2023 for "has co-operated in the proceedings before him".

2. Inserted vide Notification No. 38/2023-CT dated 04.08.2023.

Questions to answer on the file

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

Compounding application to Commissioner 162(1)

Questions to answer on the file5 questions
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Commissioner call for relevant officer report 162(2)

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CPD02 allowance or rejection procedure and time 162(3)

Questions to answer on the file9 questions
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Substantive full and true disclosure assessment 162(3)

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Rows1 to 4 discretionary bounds tieri 162(3A) Table rows1–4 column3

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Rows1 to 4 discretionary bounds tierii 162(3A) Table rows1–4 column4

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Rows5 to 7 exact tax-evaded amount 162(3A) Table rows5–7

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Row8 attempts or abetment exact amount 162(3A) Table row8

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Multiple table categories selection 162(3A) proviso

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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Documented hearing and rejection events 162(4)

Questions to answer on the file3 questions
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Prior tax interest and penalty payment 162(5)

Questions to answer on the file10 questions
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Compounding payment and proof within thirty days 162(6)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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Nonpayment makes order void 162(7)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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Commissioner withdrawal of immunity 162(8)

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Trial scope after immunity withdrawal 162(8)

Questions to answer on the file3 questions
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Hearing opportunity sufficiency 162(4)

Questions to answer on the file2 questions
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Multiple statutory amount alternatives for compounding 162(3A)

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Amendment history

The CBIC text carries 2 footnotes. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.[1]

Amendments to Rule 162 as footnoted in the CBIC text
NoteChange
1Omitted vide Notification No. 38/2023-CT dated 04.08.2023 for "has co-operated in the proceedings before him".[2]
2Inserted vide Notification No. 38/2023-CT dated 04.08.2023.[2]
Provisions connected to Rule 162
ProvisionConnectionWords that tie them
Section 138 of the CGST Act, 2017this provision requires Section 138 of the CGST Act, 2017162(1) "under sub-section (1) of section 138"
Section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017this provision requires Section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017162(3A) "section 132"

Circulars and notifications

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

Notifications (2)

NumberDateSubject
Notification No. 38/2023-Central Tax4 August 2023Seeks to make amendments (Second Amendment , 2023) to the CGST Rules, 2017.
Notification No. 15/2017-Central Tax1 July 2017Amending CGST Rules notification 10/2017-CT dt 28.06.2017

Unsettled questions

The words of Rule 162 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

  1. What makes the applicant’s disclosure full and true under Rule 162(3), beyond the Commissioner’s recorded conclusion?
  2. How is the higher prescribed compounding category selected under Rule 162(3A) when applicable categories carry different discretionary ranges or amount measures?
  3. What opportunity is sufficient to satisfy the hearing requirement before a compounding decision under Rule 162(4)?
  4. When the same offence entails more than one of tax evaded, wrongly availed/utilised ITC and wrongly taken refund, are those amounts aggregated or tested separately for Rule 162(3A) compounding? POS0199 asks the related but different section 132 punishment-band question.

See also

References

  1. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Rule 162. Procedure for compounding of offences". Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 2. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  2. Notification No. 38/2023-Central Tax, dated 4 August 2023: Seeks to make amendments (Second Amendment , 2023) to the CGST Rules, 2017. Cited in CBIC footnotes 1 and 2.

External links