A fire broke out on the 12th floor of the building housing the Trade and Taxes department at ITO on Thursday morning, March 19, 2026. The blaze specifically damaged official documents including GST audit records stored in the Sales Tax office. The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) acted quickly to prevent the fire from spreading to other floors of the government building.
Timeline and Emergency Response
The fire department received a call regarding the incident at 8:26 am on Thursday morning. Six fire tenders were immediately dispatched to the Trade and Taxes department building at ITO. Firefighters worked to contain the flames, and the situation was brought under control by 9:10 am. No casualties or injuries were reported during the operation, as the building was not heavily occupied at the time of the incident.
Impact on Records and Investigation
The damage to the 12th floor has impacted several GST audit records and files. While the police are currently investigating the cause of the fire, the destruction of these records has implications for tax compliance. General guidelines for businesses regarding destroyed records are quite strict. Some key details include:
- Input Tax Credit (ITC) is not available on goods that are lost or destroyed by fire.
- Businesses are required to reverse any such credit according to standard GST rules.
- Fire reports and supporting documentation must be kept for at least five years.
- The police and DFS are checking the electrical systems to see if a short circuit caused the blaze.
