Section 30 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.
A cancelled registration can be restored — but only where cancellation was by the officer, only within a time limit, and only after the returns that caused the cancellation have been filed.
Section 30(1) as amended by the Finance Act, 2023: any registered person whose registration is cancelled by the proper officer on his own motion may apply for revocation within such time, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed. Rule 23(1) prescribes ninety days from the date of service of the cancellation order, extendable by the Additional or Joint Commissioner for a further thirty days, and by the Commissioner for a further thirty days beyond that. Revocation is not available where the person applied for cancellation himself.
What changed in 2023
The original s.30(1) prescribed thirty days in the section itself, with provisos allowing extension by thirty days by the Additional or Joint Commissioner and a further thirty by the Commissioner.
The Finance Act, 2023 removed the period from the statute and left it to the rules. Rule 23(1) now provides:
- ninety days from the date of service of the cancellation order;
- extendable by the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner by up to thirty days, on sufficient cause shown and for reasons recorded in writing;
- further extendable by the Commissioner by up to thirty days.
Maximum: one hundred and fifty days.
The returns come first
Rule 23(1) first proviso: no application for revocation shall be filed if the registration has been cancelled for failure to furnish returns, unless such returns are furnished and any amount due as tax, in terms of such returns, has been paid along with interest, penalty and late fee.
So for the most common cancellation ground:
- file all pending returns;
- pay the tax, interest, penalty and late fee shown in them;
- then apply in FORM GST REG-21.
Applying first and filing later does not work — the portal will not accept the application.
Where the cancellation was retrospective, the second proviso requires the returns for the period from the effective date of cancellation to the date of the cancellation order to be furnished within thirty days from the date of the revocation order.
The procedure
Rule 23(1): application in FORM GST REG-21 to the proper officer.
Rule 23(2)(a): where the officer is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that there are sufficient grounds, he shall revoke the cancellation by an order in FORM GST REG-22 within thirty days from the date of receipt of the application, and communicate it.
Rule 23(3): where the officer is not satisfied, he issues a notice in FORM GST REG-23 requiring the applicant to show cause, and the applicant replies in FORM GST REG-24 within seven working days.
Rule 23(4): the officer disposes of the application within thirty days from the date of receipt of the reply, in REG-05 if rejecting.
When revocation is not available
Where the person applied for cancellation. Section 30(1) covers cancellation "on his own motion" by the officer. A person who applied in REG-16 and obtained cancellation cannot use s.30 — the route back is a fresh registration.
Where the time limit has expired. After 150 days at the outside, s.30 is closed. The remedies then are an appeal under s.107 against the cancellation order — with its own limitation of three months plus one — or a writ petition where the cancellation was procedurally defective.
Where the returns and dues have not been cleared, for a non-filing cancellation.
Credit after revocation: section 16(6)
A registration cancelled and later restored leaves a gap during which the person could not file returns and could not take credit.
Section 16(6), inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 retrospectively from 01.07.2017, addresses it. Where a registration is cancelled under s.29 and the cancellation is subsequently revoked — by an order under s.30 or by an appellate authority, Tribunal or court — and availment of credit was not restricted under s.16(4) on the date of the cancellation order, the person is entitled to take that credit in a return filed:
- up to 30 November following the end of the financial year to which the invoice pertains, or the annual return date, whichever is earlier; or
- for the period from the date of cancellation to the date of revocation, in a return filed within thirty days of the revocation order, whichever is later.
So the intervening period's credit is preserved. Sections 16(5) and 16(6) →
Practical sequence
- Read the cancellation order — identify the ground and the effective date, including whether it is retrospective.
- Compute the pending returns and dues.
- File and pay — tax, interest, penalty, late fee.
- Apply in REG-21 within ninety days of service of the order.
- Seek extension through the Additional or Joint Commissioner if the window is running out, with reasons.
- Answer REG-23 within seven working days if issued.
- On revocation, file the intervening returns within thirty days where the cancellation was retrospective.
- Take the s.16(6) credit within thirty days of the revocation order where that is the later date.
Key takeaways
- Rule 23(1): ninety days from service of the cancellation order, extendable 30 + 30 days.
- Available only where cancellation was by the officer on his own motion.
- For non-filing cancellations, returns and dues must be cleared before applying.
- REG-21 application; REG-22 revocation; REG-23 notice; REG-24 reply.
- Retrospective cancellation requires the intervening returns within thirty days of revocation.
- s.16(6) preserves the credit for the cancelled period, retrospectively from 01.07.2017.
Read next
- Section 29(2): Grounds for Cancellation by the Officer
- Revocation of Cancelled GST Registration
- Sections 16(5) and 16(6): The Retrospective ITC Relief
- How to Revoke Cancellation of GST Registration: REG-21
Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the CGST Act and Rules as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition) and the ICAI Handbook on Registration under GST (November 2025).