Section 98(6): Ninety Days, and What Happens When It Slips

Section 98 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

The Act gives the Authority ninety days. It does not say what follows if the ninety days pass — and that silence is the whole practical problem.

Section 98(6): the Authority shall pronounce its advance ruling in writing within ninety days from the date of receipt of application. Section 101(2): the Appellate Authority shall pass its order within ninety days from the date of filing of the appeal under s.100 or a reference under s.98(5). Neither provision states a consequence for breach — there is no deemed ruling, no deemed admission, and no deemed rejection. So delay is not a remedy; it is a planning constraint.

The full timeline as the Act writes it

Where the ninety days actually runs from

"From the date of receipt of application." Not from admission.

That matters, because the admission stage — forwarding the application to the concerned officer, calling for records, hearing both sides, and passing an order admitting or rejecting — sits inside the ninety days and has no timeline of its own under s.98(2).

So the ninety days is the whole period from filing to pronouncement, and the admission stage consumes part of it.

What happens when it slips

Nothing automatic.

Compare the drafting elsewhere in the Act. Rule 164(14) deems a s.128A application approved if no order issues in time. Section 75(10) deems adjudication proceedings concluded if the order is not issued within the s.73(10), s.74(10) or s.74A(7) period. Rule 9(5) deems a registration granted where the officer does not act.

Section 98(6) has no equivalent. There is no deeming provision, and no consequence stated.

The consequence in practice is that the period is treated as directory rather than mandatory, and rulings are pronounced beyond ninety days without the application lapsing.

What a delayed applicant can actually do:

• write to the Authority referring to s.98(6) and requesting an early hearing, which at least creates a record;
• file a writ petition seeking a direction to decide within a stated time — a mandamus to decide, not a direction on the merits;
• proceed on a documented position in the meantime, since the transaction cannot always wait.

That last point deserves emphasis. A pending application does not suspend the obligation to determine and pay tax. Section 59 requires self-assessment, returns fall due, and interest under s.50 runs on any shortfall. So the business must take a position, document the reasoning, and file on it while the application is pending — and be ready to correct it when the ruling comes.

Planning around the timeline

Work back from the transaction date. Where a ruling is needed before a contract is signed or a product launched, the realistic planning assumption is not ninety days but six months or more, and longer where an appeal is likely.

Assume an appeal. Under s.100(1), the concerned officer and the jurisdictional officer may appeal a ruling as much as the applicant can. A favourable ruling is not the end of the matter, and an appellate stage adds thirty days to file plus ninety to decide, in principle. Appeal to the AAAR →

File early in the transaction's life, not late — both for the timeline and because of the s.98(2) admission bar, which closes once any proceeding touches the question. The admission bar →

Keep the interim position defensible. Whatever position is taken while the application is pending should be recorded in a note — the reasoning, the alternatives considered, and the fact that a ruling was sought. That record is what answers a suppression allegation later.

The certified copy

Section 98(7): a copy of the advance ruling, duly signed by the members and certified in such manner as may be prescribed, shall be sent to the applicant, the concerned officer and the jurisdictional officer after pronouncement.

Rule 105: a copy of the advance ruling shall be certified to be a true copy of its original by any member of the Authority.

Rule 107 does the same at the appellate stage, requiring the copy to go to the applicant and appellant, the concerned officers of central and State or Union territory tax, the jurisdictional officers, and the Authority.

The certified copy is what the applicant relies on, and it is what a departmental officer in another proceeding will ask to see. Obtain it and keep it with the transaction file.

Key takeaways

• Ninety days from receipt of the application for the ruling; ninety days from filing for the appellate order.
• The admission stage sits inside the ninety days and has no separate timeline.
• There is no deeming provision for delay — no deemed ruling, admission or rejection.
• The remedy for delay is a request on record or a writ seeking a direction to decide.
• A pending application does not suspend self-assessment, returns or interest.
• Plan on six months or more, and assume the department may appeal a favourable ruling.

Read next

• Section 98(2): "Already Pending or Decided" — the Admission Bar
• Section 100: Appeal to the AAAR, ARA-02 and ARA-03
• When Members Differ: Sections 98(5) and 101(3)
• Section 97(2): The Seven Questions You Can Actually Ask

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the CGST Act and Rules as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition).