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GST glossary

Form DRC-01C (Rule 88D)

Form DRC-01C is a system-generated intimation, issued under Rule 88D, that flags an excess of ITC claimed in GSTR-3B over the credit available in GSTR-2B.

In brief

DRC-01C is the portal's automatic ITC-mismatch notice under Rule 88D. It fires when the ITC you claim in GSTR-3B runs ahead of your GSTR-2B credit beyond a threshold the portal does not publish — Rule 88D fixes no figure, and GSTN describes it only as a predefined limit and a configurable threshold. You must reply in Part B within 7 days — either pay with interest or explain — or your next GSTR-1 is blocked.

Rule 88D turns the GSTR-2B-versus-3B gap into an enforceable, automated check. The moment your claimed credit runs ahead of GSTR-2B beyond the applicable threshold, DRC-01C lands, and the clock starts. Within seven days you either pay back the excess with interest and report it in Part B, or you furnish reasons — a supplier who filed late, a timing difference, and so on.

The trigger threshold is not public — treat any specific figure with caution. Rule 88D itself prescribes no number: it delegates to "such amount and such percentage as may be recommended by the Council". GSTN's own DRC-01C advisory says only that the intimation fires where the gap exceeds "a predefined limit" or "the configurable threshold" — deliberately unstated, and configurable without any public instrument. The one figure on the record is a recommendation of the 50th GST Council (11 July 2023): a difference of more than 20% as well as more than ₹25 lakh — both limbs, cumulative, not "whichever is lower". Because Rule 88D avoids the word "prescribed", that recommendation required no separate notification. A widely-circulated "₹1 lakh or 20%" figure does not trace to the Rule, the minutes or any GSTN advisory; note that ₹25 lakh with 20% is the threshold for the sibling Rule 88C / DRC-01B on the liability side, which is the likeliest source of the confusion. Plan on reconciling the gap, not on clearing a number.

Ignore it and the consequences bite: you are barred from filing the next period's GSTR-1 until you respond, and unexplained excess can escalate to a formal demand (Section 73/74 for periods up to FY 2023-24, or the unified Section 74A for FY 2024-25 onwards). This is why 2B reconciliation must happen before filing, not after. It sits alongside GSTR-3B hard-locking in the portal's tightening ITC controls. Documenting a standing reason for each recurring timing difference — a supplier who habitually files late, say — turns a seven-day scramble into a routine reply.

The Recoup angle: Recoup computes your 2B-versus-3B gap pre-filing, so you either fix the mismatch or draft the DRC-01C explanation in advance.

Governing provision: Rule 88D, CGST Rules, 2017. This explainer is for general guidance — verify against the current CGST Act, Rules and the GST portal before relying on it.

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