With effect from October 01, 2019, any communication from Income Tax Department without a computer-generated DIN i.e. Documentation Identification Number, be it a notice, letter, order & summon or any other correspondence,would be treated as invalid & shall be non est in law or deemed to be as if it has never been issued. The DIN system would ensure greater accountability and transparency in tax administration.
CBDT has specified that any communication issued manually under exceptional circumstances would have to be uploaded and regularised on the system portal within 15 days of its issuance. CBDT has also stated that all pending assessment proceedings, where notices were earlier issued manually, prior to the DIN related Circular dated August 14, 2019 coming into existence, all such cases would be identified and notices so sent would be uploaded on ITBA by the end of this month, i.e., by October 31, 2019.
The Press Release Issued in this regard can be accessed at: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1586901#