Facts of the Case

The petitioner, AI Airport Services Limited, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Delhi seeking a direction to the respondent department to open its portal and permit generation of e-invoices for the financial year 2024-25, and a further direction restraining imposition of penalty for the delay. Counsel for the petitioner explained that, on account of a dispute with a third party (UDSPL) which had blocked the petitioner's access to its ERP system, the petitioner was left unable to upload GST e-invoices within the period prescribed under Rule 46 of the CGST Rules, 2017, which requires invoices to be uploaded within 30 days, failing which penalty is attracted. By an interim order dated 08.07.2026, the Court had directed the respondents to file a responsible officer's affidavit within 10 days to resolve the issue; pursuant to that direction, an affidavit of the Commissioner, GST Policy Wing, CBIC, was placed on record.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the delay in uploading e-invoices for FY 2024-25, caused by a genuine ERP-access dispute with a third-party service provider, could be condoned/regularised under Rule 46 of the CGST Rules.
  2. Whether penalty should be imposed on the petitioner for the delayed reporting of invoices.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • A genuine dispute with UDSPL, which had blocked access to the petitioner's ERP system, left the petitioner completely unable to upload GST invoices within the prescribed period for FY 2024-25.
  • The petitioner should be permitted to upload the pending e-invoices, and no penalty should be imposed since all applicable taxes had already been paid to the department based on the physical invoices issued.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Under Rule 46 of the CGST Rules, 2017, invoices are required to be uploaded within a period of 30 days, failing which penalty is attracted.
  • Counsel for the respondents could not, however, draw the Court's attention to any provision that completely prohibits an assessee from uploading e-invoices after the expiry of that 30-day period.
  • In a subsequent affidavit filed by the Commissioner, GST Policy Wing, CBIC, the department stated it had no objection to condonation of the non-reporting of invoices on the IRP for FY 2024-25, given the genuine ERP dispute already recorded by the Court in an earlier order dated 07.08.2025 and the fact that the petitioner had already discharged its tax liability on the basis of the physical invoices issued.

Court Order/Findings

  • The Court noted that the respondents could not point to any provision completely barring upload of e-invoices beyond the 30-day period under Rule 46, and directed a responsible Commissioner-level affidavit to resolve the deadlock.
  • On the department's own affidavit conceding no objection to condonation, the Court held that the delay in uploading the e-invoices for FY 2024-25 stood condoned/regularised, particularly since the tax liability had already been discharged by the petitioner.
  • Since the issue stood resolved on this basis, the Court held that no further orders were required to be passed, and disposed of the writ petition.

Important Clarification

  • The 30-day e-invoice reporting window under Rule 46 of the CGST Rules is not an absolute bar to late reporting — the department can, and here did, agree to condone and regularise a delayed upload where the delay arose from circumstances genuinely outside the assessee's control.
  • A prior judicial finding recording a 'genuine dispute' with a third-party ERP or IRP service provider can be decisive in persuading the department to condone delay in a subsequent round of the same litigation.
  • Discharge of tax liability on the basis of physical invoices, even without a timely e-invoice upload, weighed heavily with the department in agreeing not to press for penalty.
  • Courts are willing to direct the filing of a responsible senior officer's affidavit (here, at Commissioner level) to break an administrative deadlock in GST e-invoicing/portal-access disputes.

Sections Involved

  • Rule 46, CGST Rules, 2017 — prescribes the particulars of a tax invoice and, in the e-invoicing context, the time limit for reporting invoices on the Invoice Registration Portal.

Decision – In Favour of

The decision is in favour of the Assessee. The delay in uploading e-invoices for FY 2024-25 was condoned/regularised by the department itself before the Court, no penalty was imposed, and the writ petition was disposed of on that basis.

Related Case Laws

No directly on-point case notes are currently published on this site.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Delhi at New Delhi
  • Case No.: W.P.(C) 4268/2025
  • CNR: Not available on record
  • Coram: Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Amit Mahajan
  • Decision Date: 17 July 2026
  • Disposal Nature: Disposed of; delay in uploading e-invoices condoned/regularised

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