What does rule 91 regulate?

It regulates grant of provisional refund. Read the exact text, conditions, exceptions and transaction date together.

Which subordinate law should be checked?

No direct CGST Rule has been certified in this phase. 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.

Rule 91 - Grant of provisional refund

CGST Rules, 2017

ACTIVECONSOLIDATED_BASE_WITH_CURRENT_CONTROLindex,follow

Source control: The text/status on this page is tied to the official source gateway and the Phase 1 legal-review register. Open official source.

Finin2min Summary - Rule in 2 Minutes

Qualifying zero-rated claims may receive 90% provisional refund within seven days of acknowledgement, subject to prosecution condition and current statutory scope.

Exact operative text

91. Grant of provisional refund.-(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. (2) The proper officer, after scrutiny of the claim and the evidence submitted in support thereof and on being prima faciesatisfied that the amount claimed as refund under sub- rule (1) is due to the applicant in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (6) of section 54, shall make an order in FORM GST RFD-04, sanctioning the amount of refund due to the said applicant on a provisional basis within a period not exceeding sevendays from the date of the acknowledgement under sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) of rule 90: Provided that the order issued in FORM GST RFD-04 shall not be required to be revalidated by the proper officer.195 193 Inserted vide Notf no. 15/2021-CT dt. 18.05.2021 194 Inserted vide Notf no. 15/2021-CT dt. 18.05.2021 195 Inserted vide Notf no. 03/2019-CT dt. 29.01.2019 wef 01.02.2019 (3) The proper officer shall issue a payment order196in 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 on the basis of a consolidated payment advice197: Provided that the payment order198in 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 payment order199was issued.200 (4) The Central Government shall disburse the refund based on the consolidated payment advice issued under sub-rule (3).201

Paragraph-wise decode

Qualifying zero-rated claims may receive 90% provisional refund within seven days of acknowledgement, subject to prosecution condition and current statutory scope.

Section-Rule-Form-Notification bridge

No direct Rule certified in Phase 1. 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 certified in this phase.

Practical example

Apply the rule to the relevant form, period, portal event and evidence trail before reaching a compliance conclusion.

Professional alert

Verify the latest official active Rule page, amending Gazette and portal version before filing or advising.

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 91 regulate?: It regulates grant of provisional refund. Read the exact text, conditions, exceptions and transaction date together.
Which subordinate law should be checked?: No direct CGST Rule has been certified in this phase. 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.

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