CGST Rule 87 — Electronic Cash Ledger
CGST Rules, 2017
CURRENT CONTROLLEDRepository module RULE CONTROL
Source control: The text/status on this page is tied to the official source gateway and the Repository module legal-review register. Open official source.
Official sources
Use the official source for the controlling wording, footnotes, effective date and amendment history.
Source review date: 2026-07-28. Historical-period questions require the version applicable to the transaction date.
Finin2min Summary - Rule in 2 Minutes
Electronic cash ledger PMT-05, challan validity, payment modes, over-the-counter limits and PMT-09 transfers apply; portal/payment date evidence should be retained.
official statutory reference
87. Electronic Cash Ledger.-(1) The electronic cash ledger under sub-section (1) of section 49 shall be
maintained in FORM GST PMT-05 for each person, liable to pay tax, interest, penalty, late fee or any other
amount, on the common portal for crediting the amount deposited and debiting the payment therefrom
towards tax, interest, penalty, fee or any other amount. (2)Any person, or a person on his behalf, shall
generate a challan in FORM GST PMT-06 on the common portal and enter the details of the amount to be
deposited by him towards tax, interest, penalty, fees or any other amount: Provided that the challan in FORM
GST PMT-06 generated at the common portal shall be valid for a period of fifteen days. Provided further that
a person supplying online information and database access or retrieval services from a place outside India
to a non-taxable online recipient referred to in section 14 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act,
2017 (13 of 2017) may also do so through the Board‘s payment system namely, Electronic Accounting
System in Excise and Service Tax from the date to be notified by the Board.177178 (3) The deposit under
sub-rule (2) shall be made through any of the following modes, namely:- (i) Internet Banking through
authorised banks; (ii) Credit card or Debit card through the authorised bank; (iii) National Electronic Fund
Transfer or Real Time Gross Settlement from any bank; or (iv) Over the Counter payment through authorised
banks for deposits up to ten thousand rupees per challan per tax period, by cash, cheque or demand draft:
Provided that the restriction for deposit up to ten thousand rupees per challan in case of an Over the
Counter payment shall not apply to deposit to be made by - (a) Government Departments or any other
deposit to be made by persons as may be notified by the Commissioner in this behalf; (b) Proper officer or
any other officer authorised to recover outstanding dues from any person, whether registered or not,
including recovery made through attachment or sale of movable or immovable properties; (c) Proper officer
or any other officer authorised for the amounts collected by way of cash, cheque ordemand draft during any
investigation or enforcement activity or any ad hoc deposit: Provided further that a person supplying online
information and database access or retrieval services from a place outside India to a non-taxable online
recipient referred to in section 14 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (13 of 2017) may also
make the deposit under sub-rule (2) through international money transfer through 177 Inserted vide Notf no.
22/2017 - CT dt 17.08.2017 178 Omitted vide Notf no. 31/2019 - CT dt. 28.06.2019 Society for Worldwide
Interbank Financial Telecommunication payment network, from the date to be notified by the Board.179
Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-rule, it is hereby clarified that for making payment of any amount
indicated in the challan, the commission, if any, payable in respect of such payment shall be borne by the
person making such payment. (4) Any payment required to be made by a person who is not registered under
the Act, shall be made on the basis of a temporary identification number generated through the common
portal. (5) Where the payment is made by way of National Electronic Fund Transfer or Real Time Gross
Settlementmode from any bank, the mandate form shall be generated along with the challan on the common
portaland the same shall be submitted to the bank from where the payment is to be made: Provided that the
mandate form shall be valid for a period of fifteen days from the date of generation of challan. (6) On
successful credit of the amount to the concerned government account maintained in the authorised bank, a
Challan Identification Number shall be generated by the collecting bank and the same shall be indicated in
the challan. (7) On receipt of theChallan Identification Number from the collecting bank, the said amount
shall be credited to the electronic cash ledger of the person on whose behalf the deposit has been made and
the common portal shall make available a receipt to this effect. (8) Where the bank account of the person
concerned, or the person making the deposit on his behalf, is debited but no Challan Identification Number is
generated or generated but not communicated to the common portal, the said person may represent
electronically in FORM GST PMT-07 through the common portal to the bank or electronic gateway through
which the deposit was initiated. (9) Any amount deducted under section 51 or collected under section 52 and
claimed in FORM GSTR-02180by the registered taxable person from whom the said amount was deducted
or, as the case may be, collected shall be credited to his electronic cash ledgerin accordance with the
provisions of rule 87181. (10) Where a person has claimed refund of any amount from the electronic cash
ledger, the said amount shall be debited to the electronic cash ledger. 179 Inserted vide Notf no. 22/2017 -
CT dt 17.08.2017 180 Omitted vide Notf no. 31/2019 - CT dt. 28.06.2019 181 Omitted vide Notf no.
31/2019 - CT dt. 28.06.2019 (11) If the refund so claimed is rejected, either fully or partly, the amount
debited under sub-rule (10), to the extent of rejection, shall be credited to the electronic cash ledger by the
proper officer by an order made in FORM GST PMT-03. (12) A registered person shall, upon noticing any
discrepancy in his electronic cash ledger, communicate the same to the officer exercising jurisdiction in the
matter, through the common portal in FORM GST PMT-04. Explanation 1.-The refund shall be deemed to be
rejected if the appeal is finally rejected. Explanation2.- For the purposes of this rule, it is hereby clarified
that a refund shall be deemed to be rejected, if the appeal is finally rejected or if the claimant gives an
undertaking to the proper officer that he shall not file an appeal. (13) A registered person may, on the
common portal, transfer any amount of tax, interest, penalty, fee or any other amount available in the
electronic cash ledger under the Act to the electronic cash ledger for integrated tax, central tax, State tax or
Union territory tax or cess in FORM GST PMT-09.182
Paragraph-wise decode
Electronic cash ledger PMT-05, challan validity, payment modes, over-the-counter limits and PMT-09 transfers apply; portal/payment date evidence should be retained.
Section-Rule-Form-Notification bridge
No direct Rule certified in Repository module. Check notifications, circulars, forms and corresponding State law.
The mapping is a legal concordance, not a round-robin related-link list. It is limited to instruments listed in this repository.
Practical example
Apply the rule to the relevant form and recovery, payment or appellate event.
Professional alert
Confirm the official active page and transaction-date amendment chain.
Implementation checklist
- Fix the transaction, taxable period and jurisdiction.
- Read every subsection, proviso, explanation and omission marker.
- Open the mapped Rule, form, notification and circular.
- Test State/UT variation and portal version.
- Preserve evidence, approvals, working papers and acknowledgements.
- Record the conclusion, assumptions, source date and reviewer.
Evidence and retention checklist
- Contract, purchase order, invoice or underlying transaction document.
- Registration, return, ledger, challan and portal acknowledgement.
- Official Act/Rule/notification version used and effective date.
- Internal tax position paper, computation and management approval.
- Correspondence, notices, replies, orders and appeal papers where applicable.
Practical Q&A
- What does rule 87 regulate?
- It regulates electronic cash ledger. Read the exact text, conditions, exceptions and transaction date together.
- Which subordinate law should be checked?
- No direct CGST Rule has been listed in this repository. Notifications, circulars, forms and the corresponding SGST/UTGST layer may also apply.
- What evidence should be retained?
- Preserve the contract or transaction record, invoice or form, portal acknowledgement, payment/ledger evidence, correspondence, legal working and the official source version used.
- Can portal behaviour override the statute?
- No. Portal functionality is operational evidence; legal entitlement and liability remain controlled by the Act, Rules, notifications and binding decisions.
Repository module professional rule control
Legal state: Current controlled · Checked: 27 July 2026. Current legal/release state is controlled by the Repository module master; read the official statutory reference and amendment history together.
Why Rule 87 matters
Electronic Cash Ledger should be read with its enabling CGST Act provision, prescribed forms, amendment notification, transaction date and the live portal workflow. The operative-text block already released on this page remains the legal core; Repository module adds application controls without altering that block.
Rule → Form → evidence bridge
FORM GST PMT-05FFORM GST PMT-06OFORM GST PMT-06GFORM GST PMT-07TFORM GST PMT-03FORM GST PMT-04FORM GST PMT-09
- Confirm the Rule version that was operative on the relevant date.
- Check every proviso, explanation, inserted/omitted sub-rule and commencement notification.
- Use the current prescribed form/portal utility rather than a saved legacy template.
- Preserve the Rule source, filing/approval evidence, computation and decision-maker trail.
Finin2min decision path
- Trigger: What transaction, registration event, return, credit, valuation, refund, appeal or enforcement event activates this Rule?
- Date: Which Rule version and amendment notification applied on that date?
- Conditions: Have every mandatory condition and exception been tested?
- Form/portal: Is the prescribed form or electronic workflow the correct current version?
- Evidence: Can the conclusion be reconstructed from books, invoices, portal records and official sources?
Practical cases
Transaction test
Fix the tax period, legal trigger and effective version of the Rule.
Portal execution
Reconcile portal fields to the legal rule and retain the generated acknowledgement/order.
Dispute readiness
Preserve source version, computation and evidence so the position can be defended later.
Accounting, ERP and portal controls
- Do not let an ERP default or portal auto-population override the legal Rule.
- Map the Rule trigger to the correct tax period and retain before/after reconciliation where values change.
- Archive ARN, acknowledgements, generated PDFs, payment/ledger records, notices and orders where applicable.
Notice and litigation risk
- Separate a portal mismatch from a statutory breach; they are not automatically the same issue.
- Identify whether a circular/instruction is clarificatory or whether an amendment changed the Rule itself.
- Apply judicial hierarchy: Supreme Court → jurisdictional High Court → other High Courts → GSTAT; AAR/AAAR is not universal precedent.
Common mistakes
- Using today's Rule for an older transaction without an effective-date test.
- Reading a form instruction as if it overrides the Act or Rule.
- Ignoring State/UT procedural overlays where the Rule requires a local notification or officer action.
- Treating a source-gated local reproduction as cleared statutory text.
Finin2min Q&A
- What does CGST Rule 87 deal with?
- Electronic Cash Ledger. Start with the operative Rule version and then test the connected Act provision, forms and amendments.
- Which GST form is connected to Rule 87?
- PMT-05F, PMT-06O, PMT-06G, PMT-07T, PMT-03, PMT-04, PMT-09 The Rule and live portal workflow control.
- Can I rely only on the GST portal?
- No. Portal functionality is execution infrastructure; legal eligibility and consequences come from the Act, Rules and valid instruments.
- What should I keep on file?
- The official Rule version used, amendment/effective-date evidence, underlying transaction records, computation, portal submission and resulting acknowledgement/order.