If the GST department has frozen your bank account under Section 79, it means a tax demand against you has already been confirmed and is being recovered, so act within days: get the recovery notice, check whether the three month payment window was respected, and either pay or file an appeal fast to stop the money leaving your account.
This is the recovery stage. It is different from a provisional attachment under Section 83, which is only a temporary safety hold used while a case is still open. Under Section 79 the tax has been treated as final and due. You cannot ignore it, but you still have concrete rights, and the officer must follow rules. Speed matters, because your bank has been told to hand your money to the government.
Do these things in order, starting the same day you learn about the freeze.
Section 79 of the CGST Act 2017 is the recovery provision. When an amount is payable under the Act and has not been paid, the proper officer may recover it in several ways. These include deducting the amount from any GST refund owed to you, detaining and selling your goods or property, or the third party route explained below.
The freeze on your bank account is the third party, or garnishee, mode under Section 79(1)©. The officer serves a written notice on any person who holds money for you or owes money to you, and directs that person to pay that money to the government instead. When that person is your bank, the notice is issued in FORM GST DRC-13. The bank is told to pay only so much of your money as is enough to cover the amount due. Once the bank pays, the officer issues it a certificate in FORM GST DRC-14, and the bank is treated as having discharged that much of your liability.
This is why the freeze can feel sudden. The bank is simply following a legal direction. Your fight is not with the bank; it is with the demand and with whether the recovery followed due process.
Recovery power is not unlimited. These are the protections you can rely on.
People confuse these two, but they are very different stages. Getting this right tells you which rights apply.
| Point | Section 79 recovery | Section 83 provisional attachment |
|---|---|---|
| When it happens | After a demand is confirmed and unpaid | While a case is still going on, before any final demand |
| Purpose | To collect a final, due amount | To protect revenue temporarily |
| Notice or form | Written third party notice, FORM GST DRC-13 on a bank | Attachment order in FORM GST DRC-22 |
| How long it lasts | Until the dues are paid or the demand is set aside | Ceases automatically after one year |
| Your main move | Pay, or appeal with pre-deposit for a stay | Object under the rules and seek release |
If your freeze is actually a provisional one, read our separate guide at https://righttoinformation.wiki/gst-provisional-attachment-bank-account-section-83 instead.
It is the written notice a GST officer sends to a third party who holds your money or owes you money, such as your bank, directing them to pay that money to the government to recover a confirmed tax demand. It is issued under Section 79(1)©. When the bank pays, it receives a certificate in FORM GST DRC-14.
Normally no. Section 78 gives you three months from the date the order was served to pay before recovery starts. The officer can act earlier only if it is in the interest of revenue and the reasons are recorded in writing, with approval from the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner as required by CBIC Instruction No. 01/2024-GST dated 30 May 2024. Ask for that recorded reasoning.
Either pay the confirmed demand through the GST portal, or file a first appeal under Section 107 with the 10 percent pre-deposit, which stays recovery of the balance. Then write to the proper officer, attach your payment or appeal proof, and ask that the DRC-13 be withdrawn so the bank can release the account.
Filing an appeal by itself is not enough. You must also pay the 10 percent pre-deposit of the disputed tax under Section 107. Once you do, recovery of the remaining disputed amount is deemed to be stayed while the appeal is pending. Keep the appeal acknowledgement and pre-deposit proof to show the officer and the bank.
No. The DRC-13 notice directs the bank to pay only so much of your money as is sufficient to cover the amount due. If the bank has been asked to pay, or has paid, more than the demand, raise it in writing with the proper officer at once and ask for a correction.
Every communication from a GST officer is meant to carry a Document Identification Number that you can verify in the VERIFY CBIC-DIN window on the CBIC website. If the notice carries no valid DIN or system reference number, note that and raise it, as such a notice can be challenged as invalid.
No. Section 79 recovers a demand that is already final and confirmed, using forms like DRC-13. Section 83 is only a temporary, protective attachment during a pending case, made in FORM GST DRC-22, and it automatically ends after one year. Section 79 is about collecting a settled amount; Section 83 is about holding things while a case runs.
Read The RTI Playbook for a plain guide to your information and appeal rights, and use an RTI application to ask the department for the recorded reasons, approvals, and the order behind the demand.