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J40 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 35
adhering to the compliance requirements under various other provisions of the
CGST Act in terms of Circular No. 136/06/2020-GST, dated 3-4-2020 issued to
clarify doubts regarding relief measures taken by the Government under various
provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 on account of the
measures taken to prevent the spread of Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19), the
C.B.I. & C., in order to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions
of the law across the field formations, has further clarified various issues. —
C.B.I. & C. Circular No. 137/07/2020-GST, dated 13-4-2020. (See page C21)
Refund claims - Decision to expedite pending refund claims - Imple-
mentation of. — (1) Responding to doubts and concerns raised by the field of-
ficers with regards to expeditiously processing of all pending GST refunds in-
cluding IGST refunds, the C.B.I. & C. has clarified that even though the GST Law
provides 15 days for issuing acknowledgement or deficiency memo and total 60
days for disposing of refund claims without any liability to pay interest, the deci-
sion to process all pending refund applications immediately has been taken with
a view to provide immediate relief to the taxpayers in these difficult times.
(2) Emphasizing that due diligence may be done before granting the re-
funds on merits, considering all the relevant legal provisions and circulars, the
field officers have also been advised that for facilitation of taxpayers, all commu-
nication must be done using official e-mail IDs.
(3) Furthermore, the IGST Refunds of the exporters in whose case
the/scrolls have been suspended based on instructions from DGARM, extant
procedure prescribed vide letter dated 23-1-2020 should continue to be followed.
— C.B.I. & C. Instruction No. 2/1/2020-GST, dated 9-4-2020. (See page C24)

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