Section 379 — Dispute Resolution Committee. Successor to s.245MA of the 1961 Act.
Section 379 is in Chapter XVIII — Appeals Revisions and Alternate Dispute Resolutions, which runs from section 356 to section 389.
Sub-section (1) requires the Central Government to constitute one or more Dispute Resolution Committees, under rules made in the Act, for persons or classes of persons specified by the Board who opt for dispute resolution over a variation in a 'specified order' and who satisfy the prescribed conditions. Sub-section (2) gives the Committee its powers: subject to prescribed conditions it may modify the variations in the specified order, reduce or waive any penalty imposed or imposable, and grant immunity from prosecution for offences under the Act. Sub-section (3) overrides section 275 and requires the Assessing Officer, on receiving the Committee's order, either to pass the assessment, reassessment or recomputation where the specified order was a draft under section 275(1), or otherwise to modify the existing order, in conformity with the Committee's directions and within one month from the end of the month of receipt. Sub-section (4) defines 'specified order' by three gates — the aggregate variations must not exceed ten lakh rupees, the order must not stem from a search under section 247, a requisition under section 248, a survey under section 253 or information received under an agreement under section 159(1) or (2), and where a return was filed for the relevant year the returned total income must not exceed fifty lakh rupees. The power in sub-section (2) was widened by Act No. 4 of 2026 with effect from 1 April 2026 from 'waive any penalty imposable' to 'waive any penalty imposed or imposable'.
It offers small taxpayers a route out of litigation over modest variations, with the Committee able to soften the assessment, cut the penalty and shut off prosecution in one process. The monetary gates and the exclusion of search, survey and treaty-information cases keep it to low-value, non-investigative disputes.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceiling on the variations in the order | Ten lakh rupees | Aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in the specified order | Sub-section (4)(i) |
| Ceiling on returned total income | Fifty lakh rupees | Applies where the assessee has filed a return for the tax year relevant to the order | Sub-section (4)(iii) |
| Time for the Assessing Officer to give effect to the Committee's order | One month from the end of the month in which the order is received | Passing the assessment where the specified order was a draft under section 275(1), or modifying the order in any other case, notwithstanding section 275 | Sub-section (3) |
| Reliefs the Committee may grant | Modification of variations, reduction or waiver of penalty imposed or imposable, and immunity from prosecution | Subject to the prescribed conditions; the words 'imposed or' were substituted in by Act No. 4 of 2026 with effect from 1 April 2026 | Sub-section (2) |
Check the three gates in sub-section (4) before anything else: variations of ten lakh rupees or less, returned income of fifty lakh rupees or less, and no search, requisition, survey or treaty-information origin. If they are met and the Board has specified you, opting in can produce not just a reduced assessment but a waiver of penalty and immunity from prosecution in the same order. Once the Committee has decided, the Assessing Officer has one month from the end of the month of receipt to pass or modify the order in conformity with it, and section 275 does not stand in the way. From 1 April 2026 the Committee can also deal with a penalty already imposed, not only one still to be imposed.
A draft assessment order proposes variations aggregating Rs. 9,50,000 in the case of an assessee whose returned total income for that year was Rs. 46,00,000, and it arises from ordinary scrutiny rather than any search, requisition, survey or treaty information. All three gates in sub-section (4) are cleared, so it is a specified order and, the Board having specified his class, he can opt for dispute resolution — after which the Committee may modify the variations, reduce or waive penalty and grant immunity from prosecution, and the Assessing Officer must pass the assessment in conformity with its directions within one month from the end of the month he receives the order. Push any one figure over and the door shuts: variations of Rs. 10,50,000, or returned income of Rs. 52,00,000, or an order based on a section 253 survey, each puts the case outside the section entirely. From 1 April 2026 the Committee's power also extends to a penalty already imposed, not only one still imposable.
By opting for dispute resolution against a specified order — typically the draft assessment order under section 275(1) — in the manner and on the conditions the rules prescribe. The outcome is met in the Dispute Resolution Committee's order and then in the assessment or modified order the Assessing Officer passes within one month from the end of the month of receipt.
The Dispute Resolution Committee, subject to the conditions as may be prescribed, may make modifications to the variations in specified order or reduce or waive any penalty imposed or imposable under this Act, or grant immunity from prosecution for any offence punishable under this Act
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.
All of them are in the Rules 2026 index.
See the notifications index.