Income Tax Refund Stuck? Grievance Route 2026

Reviewed on: 2026-06-19.

Your ITR is processed, the portal says “Refund Issued,” but your bank shows nothing. The helpline says “wait a few more days.” Weeks pass. At that point, a formal grievance is your right.

The Income Tax Department's e-filing portal has a built-in Grievances module. CPGRAMS is the additional escalation channel. This article tells you exactly which route to take and what to write, based on the steps the department itself publishes.

Identify the cause before filing a grievance. Each cause has a specific remedy.

• Bank account not pre-validated. The department can only credit a bank account that is linked and pre-validated on the e-filing portal. If yours is not, the refund is returned.
• Name mismatch. The name on your PAN record must match the name on your bank account. Even a minor spelling difference causes failure.
• PAN-Aadhaar not linked (s.139AA(2) hold). The Income Tax Department issues regular official reminders that refunds are on hold under Section 139AA(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for taxpayers whose PAN and Aadhaar are not linked. Verify this on the portal before raising a grievance.
• Outstanding demand adjusted under s.245. If you have an old pending tax demand, the department may legally adjust your current refund against that demand under Section 245 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Check Services > Response to Outstanding Demand.
• Defective return (s.139(9)). An ITR found incomplete generates a defective-return notice. Respond within 15 days; missing the deadline means the return is treated as not filed.
• IFSC or account number error. Bank mergers changed IFSC codes. Old IFSC details on the portal cause refund failure.
• Scrutiny or verification in progress. Some returns are selected for additional verification. No refund issues until the process concludes.

For step-by-step status checking, see our Income Tax Refund Status guide. This article picks up after you have confirmed your ITR is processed but the refund remains stuck.

A refund reissue or grievance will not work if the bank account on the portal is not pre-validated. Fix this first.

1. Log in at eportal.incometax.gov.in.
2. Go to Profile in the top-right corner and select My Bank Account.
3. If your account shows “Not Validated,” click Re-validate or add the correct account with the right IFSC, account number, and account type.
4. Validation takes one to two working days.

If the refund was issued by the department but failed to credit your bank account (closed account, wrong IFSC, name mismatch), submit a Refund Reissue request.

1. Log in at eportal.incometax.gov.in.
2. Go to Services from the top menu and select Refund Reissue.
3. Choose the Assessment Year for which the refund failed.
4. Select the pre-validated bank account for the credit.
5. Click Proceed to Verification and e-verify using Aadhaar OTP, EVC, or Digital Signature Certificate.

After submission, note the Request Reference Number. Processing takes a few weeks; verify timelines on the portal as the department does not publish a fixed SLA for reissue.

If the refund is stuck for a reason you cannot resolve yourself (such as a processing error or a demand adjustment you dispute), file a formal grievance.

The e-filing portal has a Grievances module (previously also called e-Nivaran; the current portal labels it simply “Grievances”).

1. Log in at eportal.incometax.gov.in.
2. Click Grievances from the top navigation and select Submit Grievance.

Direct link: eportal.incometax.gov.in/fo-greivance/submit.

1. Select the Grievance Category (Refund, Demand, Processing of Return).
2. Fill in the Assessment Year and a brief description: ITR acknowledgement number, refund amount, date of filing, and current portal status.
3. Attach supporting documents if prompted (intimation under s.143(1), refund failure email, screenshots).
4. Submit and note the Grievance Reference Number.

Track progress at eportal.incometax.gov.in/fo-greivance/view. No statutory response deadline exists; if 30 days pass without a satisfactory answer, proceed to Step 4.

If the department adjusted your refund under Section 245 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, you will receive an intimation on the portal and by email. Your options:

1. If the demand is correct: pay the balance and the remaining refund will be released.
2. If the demand is disputed: go to Services > Response to Outstanding Demand, select “Disagree,” and state your reasons (tax already paid, covered by a rectification order, and so on). The Assessing Officer reviews your response.
3. If the demand arose from a TDS mismatch: ask your deductor to file a revised TDS return.

If a disputed demand is ignored, file a grievance on the portal or approach your jurisdictional Assessing Officer in writing.

If your e-filing grievance is unanswered after 30 days or the response is inadequate, escalate to CPGRAMS.

1. See our CPGRAMS complaint guide for step-by-step filing instructions.
2. Select Ministry of Finance > Department of Revenue > Central Board of Direct Taxes as the ministry and department.
3. In your complaint, state: the ITR acknowledgement number, Assessment Year, refund amount, date of filing, the e-filing Grievance Reference Number from Step 3, and the response (if any) from the department.
4. CPGRAMS sets a time-bound response target; verify the current timeline on the CPGRAMS portal. You can escalate further within CPGRAMS if the initial response is unsatisfactory.

The following helpline numbers are published on incometax.gov.in/contact-us:

• e-Filing and CPC (Refund and Processing): 1800 103 0025 or 1800 419 0025 (8 AM to 8 PM, Monday to Friday)
• CPC Demand Management: 1800 309 0130
• TDS-related (TRACES): 1800 103 0344 (10 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Saturday)
• Tax Information Network (NSDL): +91-20-27218080 (7 AM to 11 PM, all days)

Email: [email protected] (ITR processing); [email protected] (outstanding demand)

Log in to eportal.incometax.gov.in and go to Profile > My Bank Account to check whether your bank account is pre-validated. Also check Services > Response to Outstanding Demand to see if the department has adjusted your refund against a past demand under s.245. If both are clear, note the exact refund status message before raising a grievance.

A Refund Reissue is for when the department issued the refund but it failed to reach your bank (closed account, wrong IFSC, or unvalidated account). A Grievance is a complaint for when the department has not acted correctly, for example if the refund was never issued even though the ITR shows as processed, or if a demand adjustment under s.245 was made in error. In many stuck-refund cases you need both.

Link your PAN to Aadhaar under Profile > Link Aadhaar on the e-filing portal. A late-linking fee applies; verify the current amount on the portal. Once linking is confirmed, the s.139AA(2) hold is lifted. Filing a grievance before completing the link will not accelerate the refund.

Escalate to CPGRAMS against the Central Board of Direct Taxes under the Ministry of Finance. Include your ITR acknowledgement number, Assessment Year, refund amount, and the Grievance Reference Number. You may also write to your jurisdictional Assessing Officer. Check jurisdiction details at My Profile > Jurisdiction on the portal.

The Income Tax Ombudsman was a parallel grievance mechanism. The department's current official portal does not list it as an active escalation channel; this article cannot confirm its operational status. Use the e-filing Grievances module and CPGRAMS as your primary routes.

Under Section 245 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the department must give you prior intimation before adjusting a refund against an outstanding demand. If you received no intimation, raise a grievance on the e-filing portal citing the s.245 adjustment and the absence of prior notice. Escalate to CPGRAMS if unresolved. See also Banking Ombudsman for any disputed bank credit or debit on the same refund amount.

Check TDS Refund Status to trace TDS credits and review Form 26AS on the portal. If the TDS is not reflected, ask your employer to file a revised TDS return. See EPFO Grievance if the TDS relates to EPF withdrawals.

File an RTI to: the jurisdictional Assessing Officer under the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance, or to the Central Public Information Officer of the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru, as applicable

Use RTI under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 to ask:

• The current status of the income tax refund for PAN [your PAN] for Assessment Year [AY] and reasons for any delay.
• Whether any adjustment under Section 245 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 has been made, and the details of the demand against which the adjustment was made.
• Whether Grievance Reference Number [your number] filed on [date] has been assigned to an officer, and the current status of the grievance.
• The date the CPC sanctioned the refund and the date it was credited, including the last four digits of the bank account credited.
• Whether prior notice under s.245 was issued before adjusting the refund, and if so, the date and mode of service.

→ Use our free AI RTI Drafter to generate a complete Section 6(1) application.

• Income Tax Department, Government of India, Contact Us and Grievances: incometax.gov.in/contact-us
• Income Tax e-Filing Portal, Submit Grievance: eportal.incometax.gov.in
• Income Tax e-Filing Portal, View Grievance: eportal.incometax.gov.in/view-grievance
• Income Tax Department, e-Campaign on Refund Hold u/s 139AA(2): incometax.gov.in/e-Campaigns/e-mail
• Income Tax Act, 1961 (text as maintained by the Income Tax Department): incometax.gov.in

By Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak