[05
April 2022] S.O. 1642(E). In
exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 245MA
of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby makes
the following Scheme, namely. (1)
This Scheme may be called
the e-Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2022. (2)
It shall come into force on
the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. (1)
In this Scheme, unless the
context otherwise requires, (a)
"Act" means the
Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961); (b)
"addressee" shall
have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of
section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); (c)
"Authorised
representative" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in
sub-section (2) of section 288 of the Act; (d)
"Computer
resource" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (k) of
subsection (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of
2000); (e)
"Computer system"
shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (l) of sub-section (1)
of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); (f)
"Computer resource of
assessee" shall include assessees registered account in designated portal
of the Income-tax Department, the Mobile App linked to the registered mobile
number of the assessee, or the registered email address of the assessee with
his email service provider; (g)
"Digital
signature" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (p) of
sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of
2000); (h)
"Designated
portal" means the web portal designated as such by the Principal Director
General of Income-tax (Systems) or the Director General of Income-tax
(Systems), as the case may be; (i)
"Dispute Resolution
Committee" means the Dispute Resolution Committee constituted in
accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 245MA of the Act
read with rule 44DAA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962; (j)
"Electronic
record" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (t) of
sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of
2000); (k)
"email" or
"electronic mail" and "electronic mail message" means a
message or information created or transmitted or received on a computer,
computer system, computer resource or communication device including
attachments in text, image, audio, video and any other electronic record, which
may be transmitted with the message; (l)
"Modified order"
means an order passed by the assessing officer to give effect to the order of
resolution of the Dispute Resolution Committee; (m)
"Official email of the
Dispute Resolution Committee" means the email allocated for the purpose of
dispute resolution to each Dispute Resolution Committee by the Pr. DGIT
(Systems) or DGIT (Systems), as the case may be; (n)
"Registered
account" of the assessee means the electronic filing account registered by
the assessee in designated portal; (o)
"Registered e-mail
address" means the e-mail address at which an electronic communication may
be delivered or transmitted to the addressee, including- (i)
the email address available
in the electronic filing account of the addressee registered in the designated
portal; or (ii)
the e-mail address available
in the last income-tax return furnished by the addressee; or (iii)
the e-mail address available
in the permanent account number database relating to the addressee; or (iv)
in the case of addressee
being an individual who possesses the Aadhaar number, the e-mail address of
addressee available in the database of Unique Identification Authority of
India; or (v)
in the case of addressee
being a company, the e-mail address of the company as available on the official
website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs; or (vi)
any e-mail address made
available by the addressee to the income-tax authority or any person authorised
by such authority; (p)
"registered mobile
number" of the assessee means the mobile number of the assessee, or his
authorised representative, appearing in the user profile of the electronic
filing account registered by the assessee in the designated portal; (q)
"Rules" means the
Income-tax Rules, 1962; (r)
"Specified
conditions" means the specified conditions referred to in clause (a) of
the Explanation to section 245MA of the Act; (s)
"Specified order"
means the specified order referred to in clause (b) of the Explanation to
section 245MA of the Act; (t)
"Video conferencing or
video telephony" means the technological solutions for the reception and
transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for
communication between people in real-time. (2)
Words and expressions used
herein and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the meaning
respectively assigned to them in the Act. The dispute
resolution under this Scheme shall be made by the Dispute Resolution Committee
on applications made for dispute resolution under Chapter XIX-AA of the Act in
respect of dispute arising from any variation in the specified order by such
persons or class of persons, as may be specified by the Board. (1)
The application for dispute
resolution, as referred to in paragraph 3, shall be dealt with in the following
manner, namely. Application
for dispute resolution (i)
the assessee who fulfils the
specified conditions may, in respect of any specified order, file an
application electronically for dispute resolution to the Dispute Resolution
Committee designated for the region of Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax
having jurisdiction over the assessee; (ii)
the application shall be
filed in the Form No. 34BC referred to in rule 44DAB: (a)
within such time from the
date of constitution of the Dispute Resolution Committee, as may be specified
by the Board, for cases where appeal has already been filed and is pending
before the Commissioner (Appeals); or (b)
within one month from the
date of receipt of specified order, in any other case; (iii)
the application shall be
submitted by email to the official email of the Dispute Resolution Committee
alongwith proof of payment of tax on the returned income, if available and
accompany a fee of one thousand rupees as mentioned in sub-rule (2) of rule
44DAB. Screening
of application (iv)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee shall examine the application with respect to the specified
conditions and criteria for specified order; (v)
upon such examination the
Dispute Resolution Committee, where it considers that the application for
dispute resolution should be rejected, shall serve a notice calling upon the
assessee to show cause as to why his application should not be rejected,
specifying a date and time for filing a response; (vi)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee shall, on a request by the assessee, provide him an opportunity of
being heard through video telephony or video conferencing facility, to the
extent technologically feasible; (vii)
the assessee shall furnish a
response to the show-cause notice referred to in clause (v) within the
specified date and time or such extended time as may be allowed on the basis of
application made in this behalf, to the Dispute Resolution Committee; (viii)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee may, after considering the response furnished by the assessee in
clause (vii), reject the application or proceed to decide the application on
merits in accordance with the procedure laid out in clauses (ix) to (xiv) and
where no such response is furnished reject the application; (ix)
the decision of the Dispute
Resolution Committee that the application for dispute resolution should be
allowed to be proceeded with or rejected, shall be communicated to the assessee
on his registered e-mail address; (x)
the assessee shall, within
thirty days of receipt of the communication that the application is admitted as
referred to in clause (ix), be required to submit a proof of withdrawal of
appeal filed under section 246A of the Act or withdrawal of application before
the Dispute Resolution panel, if any, to the Dispute Resolution Committee or
convey that there is no aforesaid proceeding pending in his case, failing which
the Dispute Resolution Committee may reject the application. Procedure
to be followed by Dispute Resolution Committee (xi)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee may, upon admission of the application, as referred to in clause
(ix), and subsequent to the receipt of the response of the assessee in clause
(x), call for records from the income-tax authority and further examine, as it
may deem fit, with respect to the issues covered in the application; (xii)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee may seek a report from the assessing officer on the issues covered in
the application or on any other issue arising during the course of proceedings; (xiii)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee may before disposing off the application, call for further
information from the assessee or any other person by sending an email to his
registered email address; (xiv) the
assessee shall electronically submit its response to the Dispute Resolution
Committee, within the time specified or such time as may be extended by the
Dispute Resolution Committee on the basis of an application in this behalf; (xv)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee may, after considering the material available on record, including
any further information or evidence received from the assessee, income-tax
authority or any other person, may decide - (a)
to make modifications to the
variations in specified order, which are not prejudicial to the interest of the
assessee, and decide for waiver of penalty and immunity from prosecution in
accordance with the provisions of rule 44DAC, and pass an order of resolution
accordingly; or (b)
to not make modifications to
the variations in the specified order, but however may decide for waiver of
penalty and immunity from prosecution provisions in accordance with the
provisions of rule 44DAC, and pass an order of resolution accordingly, which
shall be treated as an order not prejudicial to the interest of the assessee;
or (c)
to not make any modification
to the specified order, and pass an order disposing off the application, which
shall be treated as an order not prejudicial to the interest of the assessee,
within six months from the end of the month in which application for dispute
resolution is admitted by the Dispute Resolution Committee as per clause
(viii); (xvi) the
Dispute Resolution Committee shall serve a copy of the order of resolution or
order disposing off the application, as the case may be, upon the assessee and
also the assessing officer for giving effect to the same, if so required; (xvii) ?where the specified order is an order of the
eligible assessee as referred to in sub-section (1) of section 144C of the Act,
the assessee shall not be eligible to file any reference to the Dispute Resolution
Panel or an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) against the modified order; (xviii)
the assessing officer shall
serve a copy of the modified order along with notice of demand upon the
assessee specifying a date for making payment of demand; (xix) the
assessee shall, furnish proof of payment of the said demand to the Dispute
Resolution Committee and also to the assessing officer; (xx)
the Dispute Resolution
Committee shall, on receipt of confirmation of payment of demand, by an order
in writing, grant immunity from prosecution and waiver of penalty if
applicable, in accordance with the provisions of rule 44DAC. (2)
The order of the Dispute
Resolution Committee for the resolution of a dispute shall be in accordance
with the provisions of the Act. (3)
Notwithstanding anything contained
in sub-paragraph (1), the Dispute Resolution Committee may at any stage of the
dispute resolution proceedings, if considered necessary, for reasons to be
recorded in writing and after giving an opportunity of being heard to the
assessee, decide to terminate the dispute resolution proceedings if, (i)
the assessee fails to
cooperate during the course of dispute resolution proceedings; or (ii)
the assessee fails to
respond to, or submit any information in response to, a notice issued to him;
or (iii)
the Committee is satisfied
that the assessee has concealed any particular material to the proceedings or
had given false evidence. (iv)
the assessee fails to pay
the demand as required in clause (xviii) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 4. (4)
Where the dispute resolution
proceedings are terminated as per sub-paragraph (3), the Dispute Resolution
Committee shall intimate the income-tax authority for taking necessary action
as per the provisions of the Act. (5)
Where the application has
not been allowed to be proceeded with as referred to in clause (viii) of
subparagraph (1) of paragraph 4, the assessee may file an appeal to the
Commissioner (Appeals) and the period taken by the Dispute Resolution Committee
in deciding on the admission shall be excluded from the period available to
file such appeal. (1)
The Dispute Resolution
Committee shall have the power to waive penalty or grant immunity from the
prosecution provisions of the Act on fulfilment of conditions specified in rule
44DAC. (2)
Any proceedings before the
Dispute Resolution Committee shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within
the meaning of sections 193 and 228 and for the purposes of section 196 of the
Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and every income-tax authority shall be deemed
to be a Civil Court for the purposes of section 195, but not for the purposes
of Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974). (3)
If any difficulty arises in
giving effect to any order of the Dispute Resolution Committee, it may, on its
own motion or on an application made by the assessee or the assessing officer
through the Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or the Commissioner of
Income-tax, as the case may be, remove the difficulty insofar as it is not
inconsistent with the provisions of the Act. The Dispute
Resolution Committee shall, upon receipt of proof of payment as per clause
(xix) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 4, grant to the person who made the
application for dispute resolution under section 245MA of the Act, waiver of
penalty imposable or immunity from prosecution or both under this Act in
accordance with the rule 44DAC. No appeal or revision
shall lie against the modified order. An authorised
representative appearing for the assessee at the hearing shall electronically
file, before the commencement of the hearing, a document authorising him to
appear for the assessee and if he is a relative of the assessee, the document
shall state the nature of his relationship with the assessee, or if he is a
person regularly employed by the assessee the capacity in which he is at the
time employed. For the purposes of
this Scheme, (a)
all communications between
the Dispute Resolution Committee and the assessee or the authorised
representative of the assessee or any other person, as the case may be, shall
be exchanged exclusively by electronic mode, to the extent technologically
feasible; and (b)
all internal communications
between the Dispute Resolution Committee, or any income-tax authority shall be
exchanged exclusively by electronic mode. For the purposes of
this Scheme, an electronic record shall be authenticated by the- (i)
Dispute Resolution
Committee, the Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or Commissioner of
Income-tax, as the case may be, by affixing its digital signature; (ii)
assessee or any other
person, by affixing his digital signature if he is required under the Rules to
furnish his return of income under digital signature, and in any other case by
communicating through his registered email address. (1)
Every notice or order or any
other electronic communication under this Scheme shall be delivered to the
addressee, being the assessee or any other person, by way of- (a)
placing an authenticated
copy thereof in the assessees or any other persons registered account, as the
case may be; or (b)
sending an authenticated
copy thereof to the registered email address of the assessee or any other
person, as the case may be, or his authorised representative. (2)
Every notice or order or any
other electronic communication under this Scheme shall be delivered to the
addressee, being any other person, by sending an authenticated copy thereof to
the registered email address of such person, followed by a real time alert. (3)
The assessee or any other
person, as the case may be, shall furnish his response to any notice or order
or any other electronic communication, under this Scheme, through his
registered account, to the official email of the Dispute Resolution Committee
and once an acknowledgement is sent by the Dispute Resolution Committee, the
response shall be deemed to be authenticated. (4)
The time and place of
dispatch and receipt of electronic record shall be determined in accordance
with the provisions of section 13 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21
of 2000). (1)
A person shall not be
required to appear either personally or through authorised representative in
connection with any proceedings under this Scheme before the Dispute Resolution
Committee or income-tax authority. (2)
The assessee or any other
person, as the case may be, or his authorised representative, may request for
personal hearing so as to make his oral submissions or present his case before
the Dispute Resolution Committee. (3)
The Dispute Resolution
Committee may approve the request for personal hearing, as referred to in
subparagraph (2). (4)
Where the request for
personal hearing has been approved by the Dispute Resolution Committee, such
hearing shall be conducted through video conferencing, including use of any
telecommunication application software which supports video telephony, to the
extent technologically feasible, in accordance with the procedure laid down by
the Board. (5)
The Board shall establish
suitable facilities for video conferencing including telecommunication
application software which supports video telephony at such locations as may be
necessary, so as to ensure that the assessee, or his authorised representative,
or any other person is not denied the benefit of this Scheme merely on the
ground that such assessee or his authorised representative, or any other person
does not have access to video conferencing at his end. The proceedings
before the Dispute Resolution Committee shall not be open to the public and no
person (other than the assessee, his employee, the concerned officers of the
Dispute Resolution Committee or the income-tax authority or the authorised
representatives) shall, without the permission of the Dispute Resolution
Committee, remain present during such proceedings, even on video conferencing
or video telephony. (1)
The language of the Dispute
Resolution Committee shall be Hindi or English, at the option of the assessee. (2)
Where any document is in a
language other than English or Hindi, an English translation thereof should
also be furnished along therewith. (3)
The resolution order and any
other order passed by the Dispute Resolution Committee may, at the discretion
of the Dispute Resolution Committee, be in Hindi or English. The Principal
Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director General of Income-tax
(Systems), as the case may be, shall, in consultation with the jurisdictional
Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax or the Principal Director General of
Income-tax, in charge of the Dispute Resolution Committee and with the approval
of the Board, lay down the standards, procedures and processes for effective
functioning of the Dispute Resolution Committees under this Scheme, in an
automated and mechanised environment, including format, mode, procedure and
processes in respect of the following, namely. (i)
service of the order or any
other communication; (ii)
receipt of any information
or documents from the person in response to the notice, order or any other
communication; (iii)
issue of official email-id
to the Dispute Resolution Committee; (iv)
issue of acknowledgment of
the response furnished by the person; (v)
provision of
"e-proceedings" facility including login account facility, tracking
status of dispute resolution proceedings, display of relevant details, and
facility of download if so required; (vi)
accessing, verification and
authentication of information and response including documents submitted during
the dispute resolution proceedings; (vii)
receipt, storage and
retrieval of information or documents in a centralised manner; and (viii)
general administration and
grievance redressal mechanism in the respective Dispute Resolution Committees.E-Dispute
Resolution Scheme, 2022