In exercise of the powers conferred by section 164 of the Assam Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the Governor of Assam is hereby pleased further to amend the Assam Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (Assam Act No. XXVIII of 2017), hereinafter referred to as the principal Rules, namely:
1. Short title and commencement
(1) These rules may be called the Assam Goods and Services Tax (Tenth Amendment) Rules, 2020.
(2) Save as otherwise provided, they shall come into force with effect from the 20th day of August, 2020.
2. Amendment of rule 8
In the principal Rules, in rule 8, for sub-rule (4A), the following subrule shall be substituted with effect from 01st April, 2020, namely: -
"(4A) Where an applicant, other than a person notified under subsection (6D) of section 25, opts for authentication of Aadhaar number, he shall, while submitting the application under subrule (4), with effect from 21st August, 2020, undergo authentication of Aadhaar number and the date of submission of the application in such cases shall be the date of authentication of the Aadhaar number, or fifteen days from the submission of the application in Part B of FORM GST REG-01 under sub-rule (4), whichever is earlier.".
3. Amendment of rule 9
In the principal Rules, in rule 9, with effect from 21st August, 2020,-
(i) in sub-rule (1), for the existing proviso, the following provisos shall be substituted, namely:-
"Provided that where a person, other than a person notified under sub-section (6D) of section 25, fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number as specified in sub-rule (4A) of rule 8 or does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number, the registration shall be granted only after physical verification of the place of business in the presence of the said person, in the manner provided under rule 25:
Provided further that the proper officer may, for reasons to be recorded in writing and with the approval of an officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner, in lieu of the physical verification of the place of business, carry out the verification of such documents as he may deem fit.";
(ii) in sub-rule (2), for the punctuation mark the punctuation mark shall be substituted and thereafter before the Explanation, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely: -
"Provided that where a person, other than a person notified under sub-section (6D) of section 25, fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number as specified in sub-rule (4A) of rule 8 or does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number, the notice in FORM GST REG-03 may be issued not later than twenty-one days from the date of submission of the application.";
(iii) in sub-rule (4), for the word, "shall", the word "may" shall be substituted;
(iv) for sub-rule (5), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: -
"(5) If the proper officer fails to take any action, -
(a) within a period of three working days from the date of submission of the application in cases where a person successfully undergoes authentication of Aadhaar number or is notified under sub-section (6D) of section 25; or
(b) within the time period prescribed under the proviso to sub-rule (2), in cases where a person, other than a person notified under sub-section (6D) of section 25, fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number as specified in sub-rule (4A) of rule 8; or
(c) within a period of twenty-one days from the date of submission of the application in cases where a person does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number; or
(d) within a period of seven working days from the date of the receipt of the clarification, information or documents furnished by the applicant under sub-rule (2),
the application for grant of registration shall be deemed to have been approved.".
4. Amendment of rule 25
In the principal Rules, in rule 25, with effect from 21st August, 2020, after the words "failure of Aadhaar authentication", the words "or due to not opting for Aadhaar authentication" shall be inserted.
SHYAM JAGANNATHAN,
Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Assam,
Finance Department.