GST refund procedure requires timely acknowledgment; rejection without following Rule 90(1) was set aside and remanded.

Refund claims from the electronic cash ledger must be processed under Rule 90(1) by issuing FORM GST RFD-02 within the prescribed time; only if deficiencies remain can FORM GST RFD-03 be issued for a fresh application after rectification. Where the acknowledgment was not issued within 15 days and this procedure was not followed, rejection of the refund claim could not be sustained. The High Court therefore set aside the rejection and remanded the matter for reconsideration in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the rejection of the refund claim from the electronic cash ledger, in the absence of the acknowledgment required under Rule 90(1), was liable to be set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The refund application was stated to relate to the balance lying in the electronic cash ledger. The governing procedure required issuance of acknowledgment in FORM GST RFD-02 within the stipulated time, and only thereafter, if deficiencies existed, communication in FORM GST RFD-03 for filing a fresh application after rectification. Since the acknowledgment was not issued within 15 days and the procedure under Rule 90(1) was not followed, the rejection order could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The challenge to the rejection succeeded, and the matter was remanded to the authority for reconsideration in accordance with law.

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