GST Refund Stuck? RTI to Unlock Your Money

Ms. R. runs a small knitwear export proprietary firm out of Tirupur, the textile-export cluster in western Tamil Nadu. On 12 March 2026 she filed Form GST RFD-01 on the common portal for the IGST she had paid on goods exported during the October-December 2025 quarter. The portal generated an Application Reference Number the same day. On 18 March 2026 the RFD-02 acknowledgement appeared. On 25 March 2026 the 90 percent provisional refund landed in her bank account under RFD-04, well inside the seven-day provisional window for zero-rated supplies.

Then nothing. The balance 10 percent, and the interest that should follow a delay beyond 60 days, never arrived. She checked the portal repeatedly. No RFD-08 show-cause notice was visible. No deficiency memo. No rejection. The file simply sat. By 11 May 2026 the statutory 60-day clock under Section 54(7) had expired. By 20 May 2026 she had spent a fortnight calling the range office, being told “the file is with the jurisdictional officer,” with no name, no order, no date.

This is the pattern almost every small exporter, inverted-duty manufacturer and excess-tax payer recognises. The refund enters the system cleanly, then disappears into a silence that no phone call can break. The silence is not accidental. It is a file that nobody has been forced to move. A Right to Information application is the cheapest, fastest way to force that file into the open, because the officer who must answer the RTI is the same officer who must sign the sanction order. This guide shows you exactly how, using only verified facts about the GST refund framework as it stands in 2026.

A GST refund is the return of tax that has been paid but is not ultimately due, or that the law says must be returned. The most common refund types are: zero-rated supplies (exports and supplies to a Special Economic Zone) where tax was paid and is now claimed back; inverted duty structure refunds where input tax credit accumulates because tax on inputs is higher than tax on output; excess payment or tax paid on a deemed export; and refunds arising from an appellate or court order.

The governing law is the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, in particular Section 54. The key deadlines the law fixes are:

1. Section 54(1): the application must be filed within two years of the “relevant date” as defined in the Explanation to the section.
2. Section 54(7): the proper officer shall issue the refund order within 60 days from the date of receipt of the application, complete in all respects. This 60-day clock starts from the date of acknowledgement (RFD-02), not the date you first clicked submit.
3. Section 54(6): for zero-rated supplies without payment of tax (LUT/Bond cases) a 90 percent provisional refund is sanctioned within seven days of acknowledgement, through form RFD-04. Since CBIC Instruction No. 06/2025-GST dated 3 October 2025, the same 90 percent provisional mechanism has been extended as an interim trade-facilitation measure to inverted-duty-structure refund applications filed on or after 1 October 2025, pending a statutory amendment to Section 54(6). The remaining 10 percent is examined and released (or held) after that.

The officer who handles your file sits inside the jurisdictional CGST Commissionerate for central tax, or the State Commercial Taxes / State GST Department for state tax. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is the statutory board that administers CGST, IGST, customs and central excise; it is a subordinate office under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. CBIC was known as CBEC until it was renamed in March 2017 ahead of GST rollout. For your RTI, the exact name matters, because a misaddressed application bounces between desks.

GST refunds move through a fixed sequence of electronic forms on the GST common portal. Every step leaves a record, and every record is something you can ask for under RTI. The sequence, set out in CGST Rules 89 to 92, is:

1. RFD-01 — the refund application. On filing, the portal generates an Application Reference Number (ARN). This is your case number; quote it in everything that follows.
2. RFD-02 — the acknowledgement, issued once the officer is satisfied the application is complete in all respects. The 60-day clock under Section 54(7) starts here.
3. RFD-03 — the deficiency memo. If the application is incomplete, the officer records the specific deficiency and the electronic cash/credit ledger is auto re-credited. A fresh RFD-01 must then be filed. RFD-03 is served through the portal, so it is always visible to you there — but many taxpayers do not check.
4. RFD-04 — the provisional refund order for zero-rated cases and (since CBIC Instruction No. 06/2025-GST dated 3 October 2025) inverted-duty cases, sanctioning 90 percent within seven days of acknowledgement.
5. RFD-05 — the payment advice, carrying the bank IFSC, account number and the UTR (Unique Transaction Reference) by which the money actually moves.
6. RFD-06 — the final sanction or rejection order, with reasons.
7. RFD-08 — a show-cause notice issued before rejection, to which you reply in RFD-09 within 15 days.
8. RFD-07 — the full-adjustment order where refund is adjusted against demand.
9. PMT-03 — the order re-crediting the electronic ledger when a refund is rejected.

When a refund is “stuck,” it is stuck at one of these stages. The art of the RTI is to ask for the record at the exact stage where the file is sitting, not to ask “why is my refund delayed?” — which is a question no PIO has to answer.

Two things have changed or been clarified recently, and both strengthen your hand.

First, the interest position under Section 56 was tightened by the Finance Act 2023, effective 1 October 2023 through Notification No. 28/2023-Central Tax dated 31.07.2023. The notification clarified that interest on delayed refund is payable for the entire period of delay beyond 60 days, not just a slice of it. The notified rates, originally fixed by Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax dated 28.06.2017, remain: 6 percent per annum for general delayed refunds, and 9 percent per annum where the refund arises from an order of an adjudicating authority, an Appellate Authority, a Tribunal or a court. Interest runs from day 61 after receipt of the application until the date the refund is actually credited.

Second, the 90 percent provisional refund mechanism — once limited to zero-rated supplies under Section 54(6) — was extended to inverted-duty-structure refunds by CBIC Instruction No. 06/2025-GST dated 3 October 2025, as an interim measure pending a statutory amendment to Section 54(6). It applies to IDS refund applications filed on or after 1 October 2025. If your IDS refund was earlier crawling through the full 60-day scrutiny, a large slice of it should now be landing within seven days of acknowledgement. When it does not, that is a clean, datable grievance for your RTI.

No fresh 2026 CBIC circular has changed the 60-day outer limit. The framework is stable. That stability is useful: you can cite Section 54(7), Notification 13/2017-CT and Notification 28/2023-CT with confidence, knowing the law has not moved under you.

Step 1 — Work out which public authority holds your file.

1. If your refund is CGST or IGST (most exports, most inverted-duty claims on central tax), the public authority is the jurisdictional CGST Commissionerate under CBIC, Department of Revenue. File through the Central RTI portal at rtionline.gov.in — select Ministry of Finance, then Department of Revenue, then CBIC. The CPIO lookup tool at the portal will let you narrow down to your Commissionerate.
2. If your refund is SGST (state GST), the public authority is your State Commercial Taxes / State GST Department. File through your state RTI portal, not rtionline.gov.in, which is for Central public authorities only.
3. If you cannot tell, file at the CGST Commissionerate of your principal place of business as shown on your GSTIN. For export refunds this is almost always the right office.

Step 2 — Gather your identifiers. You need your GSTIN, the ARN, the RFD-01 filing date, the RFD-02 acknowledgement date (the start of the 60-day clock), the refund type, and the tax period. Without the ARN, the PIO cannot retrieve the file.

Step 3 — Draft specific, dated questions. Ask for records, not explanations. Six strong questions:

1. “Furnish the current stage of my refund application ARN as recorded in the file, with the date on which each stage was reached.”
2. “Furnish a certified copy of the RFD-03 deficiency memo, if any, issued in respect of ARN , with the specific clause of the CGST Rules invoked.”
3. “Furnish the name, designation and office address of the officer currently handling ARN .”
4. “Furnish a certified copy of the RFD-06 sanction order or RFD-08 show-cause notice, if issued, with date and order number.”
5. “Furnish the RFD-05 payment advice for ARN , with bank IFSC, account number and UTR, and the date of credit.”
6. “Furnish the interest worksheet computed under Section 56 of the CGST Act, 2017 read with Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax dated 28.06.2017, for the delay beyond 60 days from the date of acknowledgement.”

Step 4 — Pay the fee. The Central RTI fee is Rs.10, payable by net banking, card or UPI on rtionline.gov.in, or by Indian Postal Order / court-fee stamp if filing on paper. BPL applicants are exempt on producing a BPL certificate. State fees vary — many states also charge Rs.10, some are free.

Step 5 — Submit and keep proof. If filing online, save the registration number. If filing on paper, take a stamped receiving copy or send by registered post and keep the acknowledgement. Proof of submission is your protection at the First Appeal stage.

Step 6 — Wait 30 days. Under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 the CPIO must reply within 30 days. If your application is transferred to another office under Section 6(3), add five days. If the deadline is breached, the information must be supplied free of charge under Section 7(6). Silence is a deemed refusal under Section 7(2) and triggers your right to a First Appeal.

You can draft the whole application in minutes with the free AI RTI draft assistant at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html — describe your stuck refund and it produces a Section 6(1) application with your identifiers filled in.

1. Copy of the GST registration certificate (or just the GSTIN, clearly written).
2. The ARN and a screenshot of the RFD-02 acknowledgement from the common portal.
3. The RFD-01 summary and, for export refunds, the shipping bill number and EGM (Export General Manifest) date.
4. For inverted-duty claims, the HSN-wise input and output tax summary for the period.
5. Bank statement extract showing the 90 percent provisional credit (RFD-04) and the absence of the balance.
6. BPL certificate, if claiming the fee waiver.
7. A copy of any RFD-08 show-cause notice already received, so the PIO knows what stage the file is at.

1. Filing at CBIC Headquarters instead of the jurisdictional Commissionerate. The HQ office does not hold your refund file; it will transfer the application under Section 6(3) and cost you five days. File directly at the Commissionerate shown on your GSTIN.
2. Asking “why is my refund delayed?” The RTI Act gives you records, not reasoning. Ask for the RFD-06 order, the RFD-05 payment advice and the Section 56 worksheet instead.
3. Forgetting the Section 56 interest claim. Many applicants ask for the refund but not the interest. The interest is a separate, calculable amount and the worksheet is a disclosable record.
4. Quoting the filing date instead of the acknowledgement date. The 60-day clock runs from RFD-02, not from the day you clicked submit. Misstating the start date lets the PIO claim the clock has not yet started.
5. Asking for another taxpayer's GST return data. Section 158(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 bars disclosure of a third party's return information, and the CIC has upheld this bar in Bethuran vs. Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise (CIC/DGSTX/A/2023/130359, decided 03.10.2024), applying the principle that the special law (CGST Act) overrides the general law (RTI Act). Your own refund file, however, is not barred — it is not third-party personal information.
6. Asking for aggregate statistics like “average turnaround time for this Division.” The CIC in S. Paulraj (June 2023) held that quarterly-wise GST ITC and collection data is not “material information” under Section 2(f) because GSTN does not maintain it in the form sought. Ask for concrete, maintained records instead.

RTI works because it has a built-in ladder. If the CPIO ignores you or sends a vague “process is under progress” reply, you do not stop there.

1. First Appeal: If no reply arrives within 30 days, or the reply is evasive, file a First Appeal under Section 19(1) with the First Appellate Authority in the same CGST Commissionerate. Do this within 30 days of the expiry of the reply deadline. The FAA is usually one rung above the CPIO — a Joint or Additional Commissioner — and must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45. There is no fee for a First Appeal to a Central authority.
2. Second Appeal: If the FAA also fails, file a Second Appeal under Section 19(3) with the Central Information Commission for CGST/IGST refunds, or your State Information Commission for SGST refunds. There is no fee for a Second Appeal to the CIC. The CIC can order disclosure and impose a penalty on the PIO under Section 20.
3. Complaint under Section 18: Where the CPIO never replied at all or refused to accept the application, you can also file a direct complaint to the Information Commission instead of, or alongside, the appeal route.

For GST refund cases the most common pattern is that the CPIO replies with the sanction order number and UTR around day 25 to 28 — because by then the dealing officer, now forced to put a date and a name on record, prefers to close the file rather than write a reasoned delay note. Where the reply is partial, the First Appeal usually extracts the missing worksheet. Draft the First Appeal in seconds from your RTI registration number with the free assistant at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/first-appeal-app.html , and track every deadline with the timeline calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html .

1. Check the GST common portal before filing. Open the Refunds tab, note the exact stage shown for your ARN, and screenshot it. Quote that stage in your RTI so the PIO cannot claim a different status.
2. For export refunds, attach the shipping bill and EGM reference. The IGST refund on exports is anchored to the shipping bill scroll from ICEGATE; quoting the shipping-bill number lets the officer retrieve the cross-validation record in minutes. See our companion guide ICEGATE shipping-bill scroll — IGST export refund not credited.
3. Run a CPGRAMS complaint in parallel. A grievance at pgportal.gov.in under Ministry of Finance, CBIC, with a 21-day SLA, costs nothing and signals to the Commissionerate that the matter is being tracked at two levels. The RTI gets the record; the grievance gets the action.
4. Name the Section 56 interest in rupees. Work out the rough interest yourself — principal x 6 percent x days beyond 60, divided by 365 — and mention the figure. An officer who sees you have already computed the interest is less likely to leave it unbilled.
5. Do not ask for aggregate statistics. The CIC in S. Paulraj (June 2023) confirmed that GSTN does not maintain aggregate ITC or collection data in the form applicants often request, and such queries are rightly refused. Ask for your own file, by ARN, instead.
6. Use the reply checker. Once the PIO replies, paste it into the free PIO reply checker at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html to see whether it actually answers each of your questions or merely fobs you off — useful evidence for a First Appeal.

To,
The Central Public Information Officer,
Office of the [Assistant/Joint] Commissioner,
[Division name] CGST Commissionerate,
[City] - [PIN]

Subject: Application under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005,
regarding my GST refund application ARN __________.

Sir/Madam,

I, [Full Name], Indian citizen, holder of GSTIN __________,
having my principal place of business at [full address],
file this application under Section 6(1) of the Right to
Information Act, 2005, seeking the following information
relating to my GST refund application:

  Refund type: Zero-rated / Inverted duty / Excess / Other: ____
  ARN: __________
  RFD-01 filing date: __________
  RFD-02 acknowledgement date: __________
  Tax period: __________
  Amount claimed: Rs. ________

Please furnish:

1. The current stage of my refund application ARN __________
   as recorded in the file, with the date each stage was
   reached, under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act.

2. A certified copy of the RFD-03 deficiency memo, if any,
   with the specific clause of the CGST Rules, 2017 invoked.

3. The name, designation and office address of the officer
   currently handling ARN __________, under Section 6(1).

4. A certified copy of the RFD-06 sanction or rejection
   order, if issued, with date and order number.

5. A certified copy of the RFD-08 show-cause notice, if
   issued, with the specific ground.

6. The RFD-05 payment advice for ARN __________, with bank
   IFSC, account number, UTR and date of credit.

7. The interest worksheet computed under Section 56 of the
   CGST Act, 2017, read with Notification No. 13/2017-Central
   Tax dated 28.06.2017 and Notification No. 28/2023-Central
   Tax dated 31.07.2023, for the delay beyond 60 days from
   the date of acknowledgement.

8. If the refund has not been sanctioned, the specific
   pending action and the estimated date of release.

9. The name and designation of the First Appellate Authority
   under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act, 2005.

I state that the information sought does not fall within the
prohibitions of Section 8 or Section 9 of the RTI Act, 2005,
the records sought being my own refund file. If the
information is held by another public authority, I request
transfer under Section 6(3) within five days.

I have paid the application fee of Rs.10 through
[net banking / Indian Postal Order No. __________].

I declare that I am a citizen of India.

Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Name]
[Date], [Place]

Yes. You can ask for the current stage of your file at any time after acknowledgement. However, the statutory delay ground — and the Section 56 interest entitlement — only crystallise on day 61. Filing a week before the clock expires is reasonable; filing on day 30 usually produces a “process is under progress” reply.

Only if you ask for another taxpayer's return data. Section 158(1) bars disclosure of third-party GST return information, and the CIC upheld this in Bethuran (2024). Your own refund file — the ARN status, deficiency memo, sanction order, payment advice and interest worksheet — is not third-party personal information and is not barred.

You can get the interest worksheet, which is the record showing how the officer computed (or failed to compute) interest. Getting the worksheet often prompts the officer to actually pay the interest. The entitlement itself runs at 6 percent per annum for general refunds and 9 percent per annum where the refund follows an adjudicated or court order, from day 61 until actual credit.

File your RTI through the state RTI portal, not rtionline.gov.in. The Central portal handles only Central public authorities. State fees and formats vary slightly; most states charge Rs.10. Check your state's RTI rules before filing.

At the jurisdictional Commissionerate. Headquarters does not hold your refund file and will transfer the application under Section 6(3), costing you five days. Use the CPIO lookup on rtionline.gov.in — Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, CBIC — to find the right Commissionerate.

Ask for the current stage of the ARN, the name and designation of the dealing officer, and the specific pending action. If no RFD-08 has been issued and no RFD-06 has been passed, the file is simply sitting; the RTI forces it to move.

Ask for the RFD-07 full-adjustment order and the underlying demand order. A refund can be adjusted against a demand only after following the procedure under Section 54(8) read with Rule 92(3). The adjustment order is a disclosable record. See also our guide on gst-drc-01-demand-notice-drc-03-payment-action for the demand side.

This is extremely common. The balance 10 percent is examined after the provisional release. Ask for the stage of the balance scrutiny, any RFD-08 issued, and the RFD-06 for the balance. For the export IGST angle, see icegate-shipping-bill-scroll-igst-export-refund-not-credited.

Silence is a deemed refusal under Section 7(2). File a First Appeal under Section 19(1) within 30 days of the deadline, to the First Appellate Authority in the same Commissionerate. The free First Appeal assistant at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/first-appeal-app.html will draft it from your RTI registration number. If the FAA also fails, file a Second Appeal to the Central Information Commission under Section 19(3). Use the timeline calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html to track every deadline.

You can, and should, run a CPGRAMS grievance at pgportal.gov.in under Ministry of Finance, CBIC, alongside the RTI. CPGRAMS has a 21-day redress SLA and is free. But a grievance asks the department to “please act”; an RTI compels the officer to disclose the record. They serve different purposes — run both.

1. RTI for income-tax refund delay
2. RTI for income-tax refund delay 2026
3. ITR refund stuck beyond 60 days — 2026
4. RTI for daily life problems
5. GST refund deficiency memo received — action guide
6. ICEGATE shipping-bill scroll — IGST export refund not credited
7. GST ITC blocked under Rule 86A — action guide
8. GST registration suspended or cancelled — restoration plan

1. CGST Act, 2017, Section 54 (refund of tax): [taxinformation.cbic.gov.in](https://taxinformation.cbic.gov.in/content/html/tax_repository/gst/acts/2017_CGST_act/active/chapter11/section54_v1.00.html)
2. CGST Act, 2017, Section 56 (interest on delayed refund): [aubsp.com](https://www.aubsp.com/cgst-act-section-56-explained/)
3. Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax dated 28.06.2017 (interest rates 6 percent and 9 percent per annum)
4. Notification No. 28/2023-Central Tax dated 31.07.2023 (interest for entire period of delay, eff. 1 October 2023)
5. GST refund forms, CGST Rules 89-92: [cbic-gst.gov.in](https://cbic-gst.gov.in/gst-refund-rules.html)
6. CBIC Instruction No. 06/2025-GST dated 3 October 2025 (90 percent provisional refund extended to inverted-duty-structure claims filed on/after 1 October 2025): [taxo.online](https://taxo.online/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ins-gst-06-2025.pdf)
7. GST Council refund flyer: [gstcouncil.gov.in](https://gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/e-version-gst-flyers/refund-in-gst.pdf)
8. RTI Act, 2005, Sections 6(1), 7(1), 7(2), 7(6), 19(1): [cic.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)
9. DoPT RTI Rules, 2012 (Rs.10 fee, BPL exemption): [niti.gov.in](https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-07/RTI%20Rules%20Final%20PDF.pdf)
10. Central RTI online portal: [rtionline.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)
11. CBIC CPIO list, Department of Revenue: [dor.gov.in](https://dor.gov.in/files/rti_documents/CPIOlist-converted.pdf)
12. CPGRAMS grievance portal: [pgportal.gov.in](https://pgportal.gov.in)
13. CIC, Bethuran vs. Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, CIC/DGSTX/A/2023/130359, decided 03.10.2024 (Section 158(1) CGST Act bars third-party return disclosure)
14. CIC, S. Paulraj, June 2023 (aggregate GST data not “material information” under Section 2(f))
15. CIC, Vinod Kumar Yadav vs. CPIO, Pr. Commissioner CGST Chandigarh, CIC/CCCEC/C/2020/666324, 12.11.2021 (third-party personal info under Section 8(1)(j))

Last reviewed: 4 July 2026.