Grant of provisional refund
Rule 91 of the CGST Rules
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Provisional refund of ninety per cent on a zero-rated claim, in RFD-04, within seven days of acknowledgement, provided the applicant has not been prosecuted for evasion above two hundred and fifty lakh rupees in the last five years; the payment order follows in RFD-05.
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The exact words of the law
1,698 characters, uneditedReproduced from the CBIC text. We explain it above — but you should always be able to read it yourself.
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(1) The provisional refund in accordance with the provisions of sub-section
(6) of section 54 shall be granted subject to the condition that the person claiming refund has, during any period of five years immediately preceding the tax period to which the claim for refund relates, not been prosecuted for any offence under the Act or under an existing law where the amount of tax evaded exceeds two hundred and fifty lakh rupees. 1 [
(2) The proper officer, on the basis of identification and evaluation of risk by the system, shall make an order in FORM GST RFD-04, within a period not exceeding seven days from the date of the acknowledgement under sub-rule
(1) or sub-rule
(2) of rule 90: Provided that the proper officer, for reasons to be recorded in writing, may not grant refund on provisional basis and proceed with the order under rule 92: Provided further that the order issued in FORM GST RFD-04 shall not be required to be revalidated by the proper officer.]
(3) The proper officer shall issue a 2 [payment order] in FORM GST RFD-05 for the amount sanctioned under sub-rule
(2) and the same shall be electronically credited to any of the bank accounts of the applicant mentioned in his registration particulars and as specified in the application for refund 3 [on the basis of a consolidated payment advice:] 4 [ Provided that the 5 [payment order] in FORM GST RFD-05 shall be required to be revalidated where the refund has not been disbursed within the same financial year in which the said 5 [payment order] was issued.] 6 [
(4) The Central Government shall disburse the refund based on the consolidated payment advice issued under sub-rule (3).]
What changed, and when
The amendment trail, newest first — because the version that applies to your case depends on the period.
2025-10-01 · Substituted
13/2025-CTdated17
Substituted (w.e.f. 01.10.2025) vide Notification No. 13/2025-CT dated 17.09.2025.
2019-09-24 · Inserted
49/2019-CTdated09
Inserted w.e.f. 24.09.2019 vide Notification No. 49/2019-CT dated 09.10.2019.
2019-09-24 · Inserted
49/2019-CTdated09
Inserted w.e.f. 24.09.2019 vide Notification No.49/2019-CT dated 09.10.2019.
2019-06-28 · Substituted
31/2019-CTdated
Substituted vide Notification No. 31/2019 – CT dated 28.06.2019 with effect from 24.09.2019 as notified by Notification No. 42/2019 dated 24.09.2019 for "payment order".
2019-06-28 · Substituted
31/2019-CTdated
Substituted vide Notification No. 31/2019 – CT dated 28.06.2019 with effect from 24.09.2019 as notified by Notification No. 42/2019 dated 24.09.2019.
2019-02-01 · Inserted
03/2019-CTdated29
Inserted vide Notification No. 03/2019-CT dated 29.01.2019 w.e.f.01.02.2019.
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Text reproduced from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, as available on 2026-09-05. The explanation and practice notes above are GSTZone’s own, written for this hub. If you spot anything out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it — this hub is checked daily against CBIC.
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