Madhya Pradesh Govt Expands Online Hearings Across Multiple Acts Beyond GST

The Commercial Tax Department under the Government of Madhya Pradesh has issued an instruction dated April 23, 2026, regarding how personal hearings should be conducted in appeal and tax assessment cases under distinct acts.

This instruction is in continuation of an earlier letter No. 4/2/6/0002/2026-0/0 DY.COMM-CCT 1/852420/2026, dated February 28, 2026, issued by this office. Through this letter, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) concerning virtual personal hearings in appeal and tax assessment cases was introduced under the Madhya Pradesh Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, 2017.

Now, the department has planned to extend this same approach of personal hearings under several other acts. According to the department, the concerned authorities have been directed that all appeals and tax assessment cases falling under the following acts will now be conducted through virtual modes instead of physical appearance:

• Madhya Pradesh VAT Act, 2002 (No. 20 of 2002)
• Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (No. 74 of 1956)
• Madhya Pradesh Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 1976 (No. 52 of 1978) (Repealed)
• Madhya Pradesh Luxury, Entertainment, Amusement, and Advertisement Tax Act, 2011 (No. 11 of 2011) (Repealed)
• Madhya Pradesh Professional Tax Act, 1995
• Madhya Pradesh Motor Spirit Cess Act, 2018 (No. 11 of 2018)
• Madhya Pradesh High Speed Diesel Cess Act, 2018 (No. 12 of 2018)

Overall, now taxpayers and officials will no longer be required to appear for the personal hearings in person. Instead, now hearings will be completely online-based, making compliance more convenient and efficient for everyone involved.

The department further clarified in the instruction that the earlier issued SOP for GST cases will apply to the aforementioned acts as well, with necessary adjustments wherever required. This means the same rules and procedures for virtual hearings will generally be followed across all these laws. All the related officers have been directed to strictly comply with these directions to make sure smooth implementation of virtual hearings.