After income tax returns are filed by assessees, they are processed by the income tax authorities at the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) in Bengaluru. After processing the returns, if any refund is payable to the assessees, the refund orders are generated and transmitted to the income tax refund banker—State Bank of India, CMP Branch, Mumbai.

Direct credit of refund
Refunds are processed in two ways: Direct credit through RTGS / NECS or by a paper cheque. It is important to mention the correct and complete bank account number (at least 10 digits), MICR/IFSC code of bank branch and correct communication address in the income tax return in order to enable refunds through RTGS or NECS.

Refund through paper cheque
In a situation where the MICR/IFSC details of the bank account number are not mentioned in the income tax return, a paper cheque is issued to the assessee payable to the account number mentioned in the return.

Status of refund
Within 10 days of the refund being processed by the IT authorities and the same being sent to the refund banker, the status of refund can be viewed by the assessee on the following link: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin. html Details such as assessment year and PAN need to be submitted to generate refund status.

In case the refund (cheque or direct credit) has been not been credited to the bank account for any reason, a reissue request needs to be made by the assessee on the income tax online portal. Updated address/ bank account number/IFSC code must be entered for the department to reissue the refund.

Points to note
1) Status of refund paid is also reflected in the tax credit statement in Form 26AS.
2) It is important to preserve the income tax payment challan counterfoil for record.