Stuck With the Tax Department? How to Submit a Grievance via e-Nivaran on the Portal

A refund that will not arrive, an intimation you cannot reconcile, a PAN correction stuck for weeks - every year lakhs of taxpayers hit a wall with the Income Tax Department and do not know that a single, statute-backed complaints window exists inside the e-filing portal. That window is e-Nivaran, and since the Finance Act 2020 gave the grievance a legal spine through the Taxpayer's Charter, using it correctly is now the fastest route to a written, tracked resolution. This guide walks through the exact process, the section of the Income-tax Act 1961 that sits behind it, and a worked refund example for the 2025-26 financial year.

The Scenario

Picture Meera, a salaried professional in Pune whose employer deducted Rs 1,10,000 in TDS during FY 2025-26. When she filed her income tax return in July 2026 for assessment year 2026-27, the portal computed her liability at well under that figure and showed a refund due. By late August 2026 - more than a month after her ITR was e-verified - the refund had neither been credited nor rejected, and the status still read "under processing". Her Form 26AS matched her return to the rupee, so there was no obvious defect to fix, and her Form 16 confirmed the same TDS figure.

Meera's instinct is to phone the local office, but a call leaves no record and no acknowledgement number. The correct channel is e-Nivaran, the department's electronic grievance system that routes complaints to the exact unit responsible - in her case CPC-ITR, which processes returns and refunds. Filing there converts a vague delay into a docketed complaint with a tracking number, and it is the step that must precede any escalation. According to the Income Tax Department's own help documentation, e-Nivaran services four distinct departments, and picking the wrong one is the single most common reason a grievance stalls.

Statutory Answer

The right to raise and have a grievance resolved is not merely a portal feature - it is anchored in Section 119A of the Income-tax Act 1961, the "Taxpayer's Charter", inserted by the Finance Act 2020 with effect from 1 April 2020. Under Section 119A the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is obliged to adopt and declare a charter, and the charter the CBDT notified on 13 August 2020 expressly commits the department to "provide [a] mechanism for appeal and review" and to "resolve tax issues in a time-bound manner". e-Nivaran is the operational expression of that statutory promise.

The system is not a single inbox. As the Income Tax Department documents in its "How to raise grievances" user manual, a grievance must be addressed to one of four departments, and the category and sub-category you choose determine which officer receives it. The table below maps the four routes to the problems each one owns.

Two features of the statutory design matter. First, the description field requires a minimum of 100 characters, which forces a specific, self-contained account rather than a one-line "please help". Second, on submission the portal issues a Grievance Acknowledgement Number, and it is that number - not a phone call - that carries legal weight if you later escalate. A grievance filed against the wrong department under Section 119A is still valid, but it will be re-routed and lose days.

Worked Resolution

Return to Meera. Her gross salary for FY 2025-26 was Rs 14,00,000 and she is taxed under the default new regime (Section 115BAC). The income tax calculator reproduces the arithmetic below, and because her employer over-deducted TDS, the gap becomes her refund.

Because Meera's taxable income of Rs 13,25,000 exceeds the Rs 12,00,000 ceiling, the enhanced Section 87A rebate of Rs 60,000 does not apply, so her full Rs 81,900 stands and the refund is exactly Rs 28,100. That figure is what she quotes in her grievance. Crucially, a delayed refund does not simply arrive late and empty-handed: under Section 244A of the Income-tax Act 1961, the department pays interest at 0.5% per month (6% per annum) on the refund, calculated from 1 April 2026 (the first day of AY 2026-27, since she filed on time). If the refund is granted five months late, that is 0.5% x 5 = 2.5% of Rs 28,100, or roughly Rs 703 of statutory interest added automatically - a number worth citing in the grievance itself to signal you know your rights.

Filing the grievance: e-Nivaran step by step

The process below follows the Income Tax Department's published user manual verbatim, and takes under ten minutes once your documents are ready.

1. Log in at incometax.gov.in with your PAN and password, then open the Grievances menu and select Submit Grievance from the dashboard.
2. Select the department - Meera picks CPC-ITR because her issue is a refund - then choose the matching category and sub-category (here, "Refund" and "Refund not received").
3. Write the description in at least 100 characters. State the assessment year (AY 2026-27), the refund amount (Rs 28,100), the e-verification date, and the fact that Form 26AS matches the return. Specificity is what gets a grievance actioned rather than bounced.
4. Attach supporting documents (optional): the ITR-V, the Section 143(1) intimation once received, and a Form 26AS extract are the three most useful uploads.
5. Submit and record the Grievance Acknowledgement Number. This is the only reference the system, and any later escalation, will recognise.

An unregistered user - say someone chasing a TDS refund who never created an e-filing account - can still file. As the manual sets out, they select the "I do not have a PAN/TAN" path, enter name, email and mobile number, verify through a one-time password (OTP) sent to both, and then proceed through the same screens.

To track progress, the portal offers two routes documented in the same manual: pre-login, use the View Grievance option with your acknowledgement number and registered mobile number; post-login, open Grievances > View Grievance Status and filter by date, department and status. If a CPC-ITR grievance is not resolved within the timeline the Taxpayer's Charter commits to, the acknowledgement number is your basis for escalating to the department's higher grievance cells or, ultimately, the Government of India's CPGRAMS portal. Before you escalate a refund complaint, run your numbers once more through the old vs new regime and TDS calculators so the figure you assert is defensible to the rupee.

FAQ

How long does the Income Tax Department take to resolve an e-Nivaran grievance?

There is no single statutory deadline in the Income-tax Act 1961, but the Taxpayer's Charter notified under Section 119A on 13 August 2020 commits the CBDT to resolving issues "in a time-bound manner". In practice e-Filing and CPC-ITR grievances are often actioned within a few weeks; the acknowledgement number lets you escalate if a matter drifts well beyond that.

Can I file an e-Nivaran grievance without registering on the portal?

Yes. Per the Income Tax Department's user manual, an unregistered user selects the "I do not have a PAN/TAN" option, supplies name, email and mobile number, and verifies through an OTP sent to both before completing the same grievance form a registered user sees.

What is the minimum length for the grievance description?

The description field requires a minimum of 100 characters. This is a deliberate design choice: it forces a self-contained account with the assessment year, amounts and dates, which is exactly what an officer needs to act without a follow-up query.

Which department should I pick for a refund that has not arrived?

Choose CPC-ITR, which processes returns and refunds. Selecting the Assessing Officer or CPC-TDS route for a straightforward refund delay will see the grievance re-routed and delayed. For a TDS mismatch in Form 26AS, by contrast, CPC-TDS is correct.

Do I get interest if my refund is paid late?

Yes. Under Section 244A of the Income-tax Act 1961, interest of 0.5% per month (6% per annum) accrues on a delayed refund, generally from 1 April of the assessment year where the return was filed on time. On a Rs 28,100 refund granted five months late, that is roughly Rs 703 added automatically.

Can I attach documents to my e-Nivaran grievance?

Yes, but uploads are not mandatory. The most useful attachments for a refund grievance are the ITR-V, the Section 143(1) intimation, and a Form 26AS extract showing the TDS credited. Documentary evidence shortens the resolution because the officer can verify your claim on the file itself.

How do I check the status of a grievance I already filed?

Two ways, both in the Income Tax Department's manual: pre-login, use View Grievance with your acknowledgement number and registered mobile number; post-login, open Grievances > View Grievance Status and filter by date, department and status. Keep the acknowledgement number safe - it is the single reference the system recognises.