I also haven't received the refund for A.Y.2004-2005 around 5000 INR. ITO Pune records show that refund order has been sent. It looked like some problem with the printer that they used for printing the address, as the pin code was not clear in the record copy. Perhaps same could be the case with address, printed for dispatching. No wonder I didn't receive the post.
That day will be great when refunding of income tax directly to citizens' account gets actually implemented. It is easier to keep an account alive for an year or so (making transaction anywhere in country) than taking rounds of ITO in vain and fuelling the corruption. Most of us will go for paying 10-15% normal commission to receive our own money back.
I wonder if apart from ECS, government could add a column in Return of Income form, where tax payer could specify if he/she would like to collect the refund order personally on production of PAN card (that identifies the person) and there is a counter at ITO where taxpayer can go and collect it. It would be helpful in cases where person doesn't hold an account with bank providing ECS and might also save money spent on postal charges for the government.
