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Under India’s central GST law, different officers exercise different powers. A Joint Commissioner-level proper officer may authorise inspection or search of specified premises when statutory conditions and recorded reasons to believe exist. A proper officer may intercept a qualifying vehicle in transit and verify its documents and goods under section 68. If the transport or storage breaches the Act or Rules, section 129 provides a separate detention or seizure process for the goods and conveyance, including notice, a hearing and statutory release routes.
These powers are not a general licence for every GST officer to search any place or confiscate goods immediately. The legal basis, officer’s authority, written authorisation, documents, orders and subsequent hearing all matter. The explanation below concerns India’s central GST framework, using the CGST Act and Rules consolidated by CBIC up to 1 January 2022; later amendments, notifications and judicial decisions must be checked before relying on amounts, deadlines or forms.
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Four GST powers that should not be confused
| Situation | Main provision | What starts the action | What the officer can do | What follows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business or other premises | Section 67(1) | A Joint Commissioner-level proper officer has reasons to believe that specified conduct may evade tax. | Authorise a central tax officer in writing to inspect relevant business, transport, warehouse or similar premises. | Inspection findings can lead to further proceedings; inspection itself is not confiscation. |
| Search and seizure at a place | Section 67(2) | The same rank-level proper officer has reasons to believe that confiscable goods or relevant records or things are secreted in a place. | Search and seize personally or through a written authorisation; restrict dealing with goods that cannot practically be removed. | Inventory, retention, return and examination follow statutory rules. |
| Vehicle carrying goods | Section 68 and e-way bill rules | A conveyance is covered by the prescribed document or device requirements. | Intercept the conveyance, require documents or devices, and inspect the goods. | A contravention may trigger section 129 detention or seizure. |
| Goods or conveyance in transit | Section 129 | Goods are transported or stored in transit contrary to the Act or Rules. | Detain or seize the goods, conveyance and related documents. | Serve an order and notice, hear the affected person, then allow release through the statutory payment or security routes; confiscation is a separate section 130 process. |
Inspection of premises under section 67(1)
Who can authorise it
Section 67(1) places the decision with the “proper officer” who is not below the rank of Joint Commissioner. That officer must have reasons to believe that a taxable person has suppressed transactions or stock, claimed excess input tax credit, or otherwise contravened the CGST Act or Rules to evade tax. The provision also reaches a transporter or the owner or operator of a warehouse, godown or another place where goods may have escaped tax, or where accounts or goods are kept in a way likely to cause evasion.
The Joint Commissioner-level officer may authorise another central tax officer to carry out the inspection, but the authorisation must be in writing. The executing officer’s presence at the premises does not replace the statutory decision and recorded basis of the officer who authorised the action.
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What an inspection permits
An inspection is directed at the relevant business or other specified place. Officers may examine the premises, stock, accounts and business activity to verify the circumstances that led to the authorisation. The power is conditional: it is tied to the statutory reasons to believe and to the places and persons described in the authorisation. It is not an unrestricted power to enter unrelated premises or conduct a general search for anything of interest.
Search and seizure under section 67(2)
The higher threshold and separate legal basis
Search and seizure are distinct from an ordinary inspection. The same Joint Commissioner-level proper officer must have reasons to believe that goods liable to confiscation, or documents, books or things relevant to proceedings, are secreted in a place. The proper officer may conduct the search and seizure personally or authorise another central tax officer in writing.
Because section 67(2) concerns material believed to be hidden, an authorisation for inspection under section 67(1) should not be treated as an automatic search warrant. Ask which subsection is being invoked and what written authority covers the officers and premises involved.
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Limits after seizure
If goods cannot practicably be seized, the officer may make an order preventing the owner or custodian from removing, parting with or otherwise dealing with them without permission. Seized books, records and other things may be retained only for the period necessary for examination or proceedings. The Act and Rules also address access to locked premises or receptacles when access is denied, preparation of inventories for specified goods, and seizure of records produced before an officer when written reasons indicate that tax has been or is being evaded.
The detailed conduct of a particular search depends on the applicable subsection and current Rules. The Rules compilation consolidated to 1 January 2022 identifies FORM GST INS-01 for authorising inspection, search or seizure and FORM GST INS-02 for a seizure order. Later notifications can change forms or procedure.
Interception and inspection of a vehicle under section 68
What the officer may demand
Section 68 creates a transit verification power separate from the premises powers in section 67. A proper officer may intercept a conveyance covered by the prescribed document or device requirements. The person in charge can be required to produce those documents or devices for verification, and the officer may “also allow the inspection of goods” carried in the vehicle.
This provision does not use the section 67 formula as a precondition for every roadside check. Its trigger is the statutory requirement to carry and produce prescribed information. The scope is the conveyance, its documents or device and the goods being transported; it should not be described as a general authority to search a business premises.
E-way bill verification and repeat checks
The e-way bill rules set reporting and verification procedures for conveyances. CBIC’s rules material describes recording the outcome of an interception and restrictions on repeated verification of the same conveyance, subject to the exceptions in the Rules. A driver or logistics operator should therefore retain the applicable e-way bill and other prescribed documents or devices and note the vehicle number, time, route and officer details when stopped.
The e-way bill page retrieved for this explanation did not state a consolidated amendment date. Confirm the version in force for the movement concerned rather than assuming that a procedure described in an older compilation remains unchanged.
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When goods and a conveyance can be detained under section 129
Contravention in transit is the trigger
Section 129 applies when goods are transported or stored in transit in contravention of the CGST Act or Rules. In that situation, the goods, the conveyance used to carry them and documents relating to them become liable to detention or seizure. A roadside interception under section 68 and a detention under section 129 are therefore sequential but different legal events: the first verifies the movement; the second responds to an identified contravention.
Order, notice and hearing
The statutory process requires service of the detention or seizure order and issuance of a notice specifying the tax and penalty proposed. The affected person must receive an opportunity of hearing before the liability is determined. An officer should not treat a preliminary stop or inspection as a final demand without the required notice and adjudication steps.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteCBIC Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST, dated 13 April 2018, describes an administrative sequence for interception and detention, including reports and orders. Because that circular predates later legal changes, use it as procedural context only and verify current forms, amounts and timelines against the latest Act, Rules, notifications and circulars.
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Release of detained goods and vehicles
Section 129 provides statutory routes for release, including the prescribed payment or furnishing of security. The exact sums, calculation method and time limits have changed over time and are not stated here as current figures. Obtain the written order and notice, identify the release route offered, and check the law in force on the date of detention before paying or furnishing security.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Detention is not confiscation
Confiscation under section 130 is a separate consequence with its own statutory grounds and process. Detention under section 129 does not automatically transfer ownership of the goods or make confiscation inevitable. If confiscation is proposed, the notice and proceedings must be examined under section 130 rather than assuming that the earlier transit detention completed the confiscation process.
Paperwork and authority: a practical check
- Identify the power. Ask whether the officer is conducting a section 67 inspection, a section 67(2) search and seizure, a section 68 transit verification or a section 129 detention.
- Check the officer’s role. For section 67, confirm the proper officer’s rank and the written authorisation to any subordinate central tax officer. A proper officer may conduct the search personally, but a subordinate should be able to show the authorisation covering the action.
- Request the document. For a premises action, ask for the written authorisation and note the places, goods or records covered. For detention, request the detention or seizure order and the notice stating the proposed tax and penalty.
- Keep an inventory trail. Compare any inventory of goods, books or devices with what is actually taken or restricted. Record serial numbers, quantities, vehicle details and copies of documents supplied.
- Use the hearing opportunity. Submit a factual response to the notice and attend the hearing before determination. A verbal explanation at the roadside is not a substitute for the statutory written process.
- Check release conditions. Before making payment or furnishing security, verify the applicable law, amount, deadline and form with a qualified GST professional or the current official text.
What GST officers cannot be assumed to do
- Not every GST officer has an automatic power to search any premises. Section 67 requires the specified reasons to believe and the proper officer’s statutory rank.
- An inspection authorisation is not automatically a search-and-seizure authorisation under section 67(2).
- A vehicle check under section 68 is not, by itself, a finding that goods are liable to confiscation.
- Detention under section 129 is not the same as confiscation under section 130.
- A summons under section 70 or an arrest under section 69 is a different statutory power, not a substitute for the safeguards governing inspection, search or detention.
Related access and investigation powers
Section 71 concerns authorised access to a registered person’s place of business for audit, scrutiny, verification and checks. Sections 69 and 70 concern arrest and summons. These provisions sit near sections 67 and 68 in the Act but have different triggers and consequences. An access authorisation, summons or arrest power should not be described as a search warrant or as authority to detain goods in transit.
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Source currency and jurisdiction
This explanation is limited to India’s central GST legislation. The principal statutory text used here is CBIC’s Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, consolidated as amended up to 1 January 2022, together with the similarly dated CGST Rules, Part A. Transit references also draw on CBIC’s e-way bill rules material and Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST of 13 April 2018. The 2022 consolidation and 2018 circular do not establish the law as it stands on every later date. Before acting on a notice, detention or search, check subsequent amendments, notifications, current forms and controlling court decisions.
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