Section 101A(1A): A Tribunal Can Now Act as the NAAAR

Section 101A explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

The National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling was inserted into the CGST Act by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. Sections 101A, 101B and 101C set out its constitution, the appeals it would hear, and how it would decide them.

Seven years later it has never been constituted. Which means the problem it was created to solve — two State Appellate Authorities reaching opposite conclusions on the same question — has had no forum at all.

The Finance Act, 2026 supplies a workaround.

New s.101A(1A), in force from 1 April 2026, lets the Government, on the Council's recommendation and by notification, empower any existing Authority — expressly including a Tribunal — to hear appeals under s.101B until the NAAAR is constituted. Where it does, sub-sections (2) to (13) of s.101A do not apply, and every reference to the NAAAR in Chapter XVII reads as a reference to that authority. The provision is enabling: a notification naming the authority still has to issue.

The problem it addresses

Advance rulings under GST are State-specific. An Authority for Advance Ruling is constituted in each State; an appeal goes to that State's Appellate Authority under s.100. A ruling binds only the applicant and the jurisdictional officer — s.103.

So a national manufacturer with registrations in fifteen States can obtain, and has obtained, contradictory rulings on identical facts. Solar power plants, mobilisation advances, canteen recoveries from employees, whether a particular activity is a works contract — each has a body of rulings pulling in different directions.

Section 101B was the answer: where the AAARs of two or more States give conflicting rulings on the same question, a distinct person or a concerned officer could appeal to the NAAAR, whose ruling would bind across those States.

None of that has ever been usable, because no NAAAR exists.

What the new sub-section says

"(1A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), till the National Appellate Authority is constituted under that sub-section, the Government, may on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, empower any existing Authority constituted under any law for the time being in force to hear appeals made under section 101B and in such case,— (a) the provisions of sub-sections (2) to (13) shall not apply; and (b) any reference to the National Appellate Authority under this Chapter shall be construed as a reference to such Authority. Explanation.— For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression 'existing Authority' shall include a Tribunal."

Four things follow from the drafting.

It is interim. The words "till the National Appellate Authority is constituted" make it a bridge, not a replacement. If the NAAAR is ever constituted, the empowerment lapses.

Sub-sections (2) to (13) fall away. Those provisions deal with the NAAAR's composition — President, Technical Members from Centre and States, qualifications, terms, salaries, procedure on vacancies. An existing authority already has its own constitution, so importing a second one would be incoherent. Disapplying them is deliberate housekeeping, not a dilution.

The Explanation names a Tribunal. This is a clear signal towards the GST Appellate Tribunal, now operational, with a Principal Bench and State Benches. The GSTAT has the national structure and the Centre-State membership the NAAAR was designed around.

It is enabling only. "The Government may... by notification, empower". Until that notification issues, s.101B remains as unusable on 2 April 2026 as it was on 31 March.

What it would change if notified

s.101B appeals become live. A distinct person aggrieved by conflicting AAAR rulings would have a forum. So would a concerned officer.

s.101C would govern the outcome — the ruling and the reasons, passed within ninety days of the appeal, after hearing the applicant, the officers and the Authority concerned; and where members differ, that fact is recorded.

The binding effect follows the rulings. A resolved conflict would give a national taxpayer a single position to apply across States, which is the whole point of the machinery.

The timeline in s.101B still applies — an appeal within thirty days from the date on which the ruling sought to be appealed against is communicated, extendable by a further thirty days on sufficient cause.

What has not changed

• The State AAR and AAAR structure is untouched. First instance and first appeal remain State-level.
• s.103's binding scope is unchanged for ordinary rulings — applicant and jurisdictional officer only.
• Conflicting rulings are still the trigger. A single unfavourable AAAR ruling does not become appealable to the NAAAR merely because the taxpayer dislikes it; s.101B requires a conflict between the AAARs of two or more States on the same question.
• Writ jurisdiction remains available where a ruling is challenged on jurisdiction or natural justice grounds, and remains, for now, the practical route.

Key takeaways

• s.101A(1A) in force 1 April 2026 by s.156 of the Finance Act, 2026.
• The Government may empower an existing Tribunal to hear s.101B appeals until the NAAAR is constituted.
• s.101A(2) to (13) — the NAAAR constitution provisions — do not apply where it does.
• The Explanation's reference to a Tribunal points at the GSTAT.
• It is enabling: no notification yet, no forum yet.
• The conflicting-rulings trigger in s.101B is unchanged.

Read next

• Finance Act 2026: Every GST Amendment, and When Each One Starts
• Section 101A: National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling
• Section 101B: Appeal to the National Appellate Authority
• Advance Ruling Under GST: How to Apply

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the Finance Act, 2026 and the ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition. No notification under section 101A(1A) has been traced as at that date.