Various aspects described herein relate to techniques for improving ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) used in wireless communication systems (e.g., 5G New Radio). In an aspect, a method of wireless communications includes identifying at least a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission and a second HARQ transmission, wherein at least one of the identified HARQ transmissions is for URLLC, receiving an indication including information of reference signal handling for the identified HARQ transmissions, and performing the reference signal handling based on the information.