DRP Order Served on Upload Date – Delayed FAO Quashed | HC

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  • Last Updated on 27 November, 2025

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DRP order deemed service

Case Details: Commissioner of Income-tax International Taxation vs. Hyundai Rotem Company [2025] 180 taxmann.com 18 (Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

  • V. Kameswar Rao & Vinod Kumar, JJ.
  • Sunil Agarwal, SSC, Viplav Acharya, Utkarsh Tiwari, Adv. & Ms Priya Sarkar, JSC for the Appellant.
  • Ms Ananya Kapoor, Ms Soumya Singh & Sumit Lalchandani, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The assessee was a Korean company engaged in the production of various types of railway vehicles. The assessee filed its return of income. The case was selected through CASS, and notice under section 143(2) was issued. By way of assessment proceedings, the case was referred to a Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO). The TPO passed the order under section 92CA(3) proposing an upward adjustment in respect of ‘provision of administrative support services’.

Based on the TPO’s report, the Assessing Officer (AO) passed the Draft Assessment Order proposing assessed income. The assessee filed objections before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) against the Draft Assessment Order. The DRP directed the Assessing Officer to pass the final assessment order in accordance with the directions contained in the DRP order. Pursuant to the DRP’s direction, the TPO revised the adjustment, and the AO issued the Final Assessment Order (FAO).

The assessee submitted that the FAO passed on the pivotal issue was vitiated in law owing to the bar of limitation and thus non est in law at the threshold as the timelines as provided under section 144C(13) were not satisfied.

The Tribunal held that the DRP directions were uploaded to the ITBA portal on 26-5-2022, and the Assessing Officer was deemed to have received them on that date. The Assessing Officer was required to pass the final assessment order within one month from the end of the month in which the directions were received, i.e. by 30-6-2022. Since the Assessing Officer passed the final assessment order on 1-7-2022, the same was time-barred and was to be quashed.

The matter reached the Delhi High Court.

High Court Held

The High Court held that the date of uploading the order of the DRP will ipso facto be deemed service on the recipient, especially when the DRP proceedings are also assessment proceedings. As part of the larger Faceless Assessment Regime, all filed and uploaded directives of the DRP would be deemed sufficient service. The period of limitation as prescribed under section 144C(13) would be liable to be computed from the date of uploading of the order, and the Assessing Officer shall pass the Assessment Order, bearing that crucial date in mind.

Thus, the Assessing Officer was required to pass the final assessment order within one month from the end of the month in which the directions were received, i.e., by 30-6-2022. Since the Assessing Officer passed the final assessment order on 1-7-2022, the same was time-barred and was to be quashed.

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Author: Taxmann

Taxmann Publications has a dedicated in-house Research & Editorial Team. This team consists of a team of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Lawyers. This team works under the guidance and supervision of editor-in-chief Mr Rakesh Bhargava.

The Research and Editorial Team is responsible for developing reliable and accurate content for the readers. The team follows the six-sigma approach to achieve the benchmark of zero error in its publications and research platforms. The team ensures that the following publication guidelines are thoroughly followed while developing the content:

  • The statutory material is obtained only from the authorized and reliable sources
  • All the latest developments in the judicial and legislative fields are covered
  • Prepare the analytical write-ups on current, controversial, and important issues to help the readers to understand the concept and its implications
  • Every content published by Taxmann is complete, accurate and lucid
  • All evidence-based statements are supported with proper reference to Section, Circular No., Notification No. or citations
  • The golden rules of grammar, style and consistency are thoroughly followed
  • Font and size that's easy to read and remain consistent across all imprint and digital publications are applied