(i) The particulars of its organization, functions and  duties

             The Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) (Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India) is responsible for formulation of policy relating to levy and collection of Indirect Taxes namely Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax.  The CBEC also exercises overall supervision over Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax field formations located all over the country.  The Board discharges various tasks assigned to it, with the help of various Directorates headed by  officers of the rank of Director General (Addl Secy rank) and Director (Jt Secy rank)

             At the field level there are 34 zones headed by Chief Commissioners of Central Excise and Customs, who are exercising supervision over the various Commissioners under their charge.  There are 93 Central Excise Commissionerates in the country headed by Commissioners of Central Excise.  These Commissionerates are entrusted with the task of collection of duties in notified territorial jurisdiction of the Commissionerate and related Administrative functions.  Most of the Commissionerates also deal with work relating to Service Tax & Customs in their jurisdiction.

            There are also 67   posts of Commissioners of Central Excise (Appeals) who decide statutory appeals against the orders of officers of the rank of Addl/Jt Commrs and Dy/Asst Commrs and 4 posts of Commissioners of Central Excise (Adjudication), who decide large and complicated Adjudication cases wherein jurisdiction of more than one Commissionerate is involved.  

            The following Commissionerates are under the charge of the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax, Shillong Zone:

(i)                   Shillong Central Excise & Service Tax Commissionerate

(ii)                Dibrugarh Central Excise & Service Tax Commissionerate

(iii)               Guwahati Central Excise & Service Tax Commissionerate

(iv)              Customs (P), N.E.R., Shillong

(v)                Commissioner (Appeals), Guwahati.

(vi)       Commissioner (Audit), Guwahati (Newly created)

(ii)        The powers and duties of its officers and employees

      (a)  The powers and duties of the officers are defined in the Central Excise Act and Rules made there under.  These are further defined in the Central Excise Manual which is a published document.

          (b)  Central Excise duty is payable on all goods (excluding goods manufactured in special economic zones) which are produced or manufactured in India at rates specified in the Central Excise Tariff.  Under the present assessment scheme, a manufacturer is required to assess himself the duty payable on the goods manufactured by him and deposit the same in authorized Banks.  The details of goods manufactured exemption claimed, duty paid are required to be furnished in periodical returns such as ER-1 returns, submitted to the Department.   These returns are required to be scrutinized and checked by the concerned Central Excise officers to verify that the correct amount of the tax has been paid.

       ( c)  The power and duties of the officers are defined in Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Rules made there under and are briefly enumerated below : 

Commissioner

·     Head of Department Powers and exercising overall supervision over the Commissionerate .

 ·     Adjudication powers without any limit of amount of duty involved.

 ·     Review of adjudication orders passed by the subordinate officers

 ·     Pre-audit and post-audit of rebate/refund claims  

Addl/Joint Commissioner

Assisting Commissioner in exercising supervision over the Commissionerate

·     Adjudication power of the Additional Commissioner are for the cases where the amount of the duty involved is above Rs,20 Lakhs and up to Rs.50 lakhs and that of Joint Commissioner are above Rs.5 lakhs and up to Rs.20 lakhs. 

·     Administrative  supervision over the divisions 

Exercising overall supervision over the division   

·     Head of the office and statutory powers under the Act 

·     Adjudication powers of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner are for the cases where the amount of duty involved upto Rs.5 lakhs. However all valuation and classification cases are decided by Deputy/Assistant Commissioner irrespective of the amount of duty involved.                                                                       

·     Provisional Assessment 

·     Sanctioning of rebate/refund claims 

·     Work related to audit/anti-evasion

 (iii) The procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability. 

                                              The Commissionerate is headed by the Commissioner who is equivalent in     rank to Divisional Commissioner in the state.  The Commissioner is the supervisory head and final decision making authority with regard to  disputes  regarding the levy of Central Excise duty in his jurisdiction.  The Commissioner is assisted by Additional/Joint Commissioners and other officers in the Commissionerate Hqrs office.  There are subordinate field formations called Divisions headed by a Dy/Asst Commissioner  (Group A) and there are five or more Ranges under each Division headed by a Supdt of Central Excise (Gazetted Group B) .  Each Range officer of the division  is assisted by 3 to 5 Inspectors (Group C Executive).   

The procedure followed by the officers in the decision making process and different aspects of supervision and accountability are outlined in the Central Excise Manual, the Adjudication Manual, Audit Manual, etc.   

1.  Registration – The Central Excise assessee is required to apply for   registration/ file Declarations, Applications etc before the jurisdictional Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, who is responsible for granting the Central Excise registration certificate. 

2.  The Central Excise returns filed by the assessee after self assessment are checked by the Inspector and put up to the Superintendent.  For any dispute arising out of assessment, a SCN to the assessee is issued by the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of the division or officers senior to him depending  on the monetary limit involved. 

3.  The provisional assessment of Central Excise liability can be allowed by the Asst/Deputy Commissioner of the division.  The Asst/Deputy Commissioner is required to finalize the assessment after calling for  such documents or records as he may consider necessary or proper in the circumstances of the case. 

4  Adjudication – Departmental action against an assessee starts with a Show Cause Notice by the department.  Normally thirty days time is given to reply to the show Cause Notice.  Based on the reply and further submissions during personal hearing which the assessee can demand, the Central Excise officer passes an order.  This order is called an order-in-original or an adjudication order.  Against this order, an appeal can be filed with the Commissioner (Appeals).  The next channel of Appeal is the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) under Section 35B of the Central Excise Act, 1944.  Appeal can be made to the High Court and Supreme Court, as the case may be, against the order of the Tribunal. 

5.  Refund/Rebate – The assessee may also apply for refund/rebate to the jurisdictional Asst/Dy Commissioner.  Such refund/rebate application can be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 11 B of the Central Excise Act, 1944.  The Asst/Dy Commissioner of the jurisdictional division office is the authority to whom the claim for refund/rebate is to be filed and is also the sanctioning authority. 

6.  Audit – Vide the Cadre Re-structuring in 2014, a new Audit Commissionerate was created  which has its headquarter at Guwahati. Its jurisdiction is spread over the entire North Eastern region of the country. Audit of the Central Excise and Service Tax assesses is being conducted as per norms prescribed by the Directorate General of Audit, New Delhi.  The Commissioner is the Head of the Department  and he is supported by Additional/Joint Commissioner in supervising the functioning of Headquarter and Circles. There are seven circles viz., Guwahati Circle - I, II, III, Shillong Circle, Dibrugarh Circle - I, II and Agartala Circle. Each Circle is headed by a DC/AC and about four audit groups comprising of Superintendents and Inspectors.

(iv) The norms set by it for the discharge of its functions. 

The mission of  CBEC is to administer central excise, service tax and customs laws aimed at:- 

·        realizing the revenues in a fair, equitable & efficient manner;

·        administering the Government’s economic, tariff and trade policies with a practical and pragmatic approach;

·        facilitating trade and industry by streamlining & simplifying Customs & Excise processes and helping Indian  business to enhance its competitiveness;

·        creating a climate for voluntary compliance by providing guidance and building mutual trust;

·        combating revenue evasion, commercial frauds and social menace in an effective manner. 

The said objectives are sought to be achieved by:- 

·        enhancing the use of information technology;

·        streamlining customs and excise procedures;

·        encouraging voluntary compliance;

·        evolving cooperative initiatives.

v)  The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions.       

The main statutes which are related to the levy and collection of Central Excise duty are :

(a)     The Central Excise Act 1944

(b)     The Central Excise Tariff Act 1985

(c)      The Central Excise Rules 2002

(d)      CENVAT Credit Rules 2004

(e)      Central Excise Valuation (Determination of Price of Excisable goods) Rules 2000      

        The above books are published and are also available in the market.  The CBEC has also published Central Excise Manual of Supplementary Instructions for the guidance of its officers. All these Act, Rules, Manuals are available on CBEC website www.cbec.gov.in.

(vi)  A statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control.

The two basic type of documents dealt with are :

(i) Applications for registration, refund, rebate or fixation of drawback brand rate and

(ii) Returns filed by the assesses such as ER-1, ER-2, ER-3.  Format of these Applications and returns are available in the Central Excise Manual.

 (vii)  The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof. 

Regional Advisory Committees and Public Grievance Redressal Committees exist in each Commissionerate comprising of representatives of different trade associations and Senior Departmental officers.  The Commissioners are also maintaining Help Centres for the assistance of Small Tax Payers.  Such Help Centres facilitate interaction/consultation with the tax payers.

(viii)  A statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public. 

         The advisory bodies at Commissionerate level have been mentioned in (vii) above. 

(ix) Directory of its offices and employees            http://www.cexcusner.gov.in/officers_employee_cceshillong.htm

(x) Monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations            http://www.cexcusner.gov.in/pay_structure.htm

 (xi) Budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made 

This information has been notified by each of the formations separately.

(xii)  The manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made.

Not applicable 

(xiii)  Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorization granted by it 

Section  5A of the Central Excise Act empowers the Central Govt. to grant exemption from payment of Central Excise duties.  Such exemptions are not granted by field formations. 

 (xiv)  Details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form

(a)     Comprehensive information on Central Excise laws and procedures maintained at the http://www.cbec.gov.in web site.

 (b)    Information on electronic filing in Central Excise available at http://www.exciseandservicetax.nic.in

 (c)    Directorate of Data Management is maintaining commodity-wise revenue of Central Excise in electronic form.

(xv)  The particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use. 

At present, the following avenues are available for obtaining information : 

(a)       Help Centres : One Help Centre is maintained for the help of small assesses in each Commissionerate at a location which is in the vicinity of industry and in private premises.

(b)      Information and Facilitation Counter is available at the Commissionerate Headquarters.

(c)       Websites : http://www.cbec.gov.in (CBEC) and/or http://www.cexcusner.gov.in (Chief Commissioner Office, Shillong Zone) and/or http://cexstshillong.gov.in (Shillong Commissionerate) and/or http://cexdibrugarh.gov.in (Dibrugarh Commissionerate) and/or http://shillongcustoms.nic.in (Customs Prev. Commissionerate). 

Though small libraries are generally maintained in each Commissionerate they are presently being used only by the Commissionerate officers. 

(xvii) Such other information as may be prescribed -             NIL

(xvi)  The names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information officers 

            http://www.cexcusner.gov.in/Public%20Notice.htm