Section 139 was introduced during the implementation of GST to facilitate the transition of taxpayers from the earlier indirect tax regime to the GST regime. It provided for the migration of persons registered under existing laws such as VAT, Service Tax, and Central Excise into GST.

Under this provision, existing registered taxpayers were granted provisional GST registration and were required to furnish prescribed information and documents for obtaining final registration. If the information was found satisfactory, the provisional registration became final.

The objective was to ensure a smooth transition to GST without disrupting business operations. Since GST replaced multiple indirect taxes across India, millions of taxpayers needed to be transferred into the new system efficiently.

This section played a crucial role during the introduction of GST on 1 July 2017. Although its practical relevance has reduced over time, it remains an important transitional provision within the Act.

Example:
A trader registered under VAT before GST implementation was automatically granted provisional GST registration and later converted to regular GST registration after verification.

Key Point:
The section enabled seamless transfer of existing taxpayers into the GST framework.

In One Line:
Section 139 facilitated migration from the old tax regime to GST.