Online Scheduling of factory stuffing inspection by Central Excise Officer - Board Instructions
IT has been suggested to the Board that in order to reduce transaction cost involved in factory stuffing inspection by Central Excise officers scheduling factory stuffing permission should be provided on line by the department. This suggestion has been accepted by the department.
So the Board directs that:
++ The respective Central Excise Commissionerate would make necessary arrangement in this respect by specifying the Range-wise official e-mail id on which the trade can forward their request for such factory stuffing inspection.
++ The range would intimate by e-mail to the concerned assessee/party about time for examination.
++ The concerned Central Excise Commissionerate would also make further arrangement for monitoring of each such request and timely response.
++ All the arrangement so made may also be brought to the notice of all concerned by way of issuance of suitable Public Notice / Standing Order for proper facilitation to the trade & industry.
Now how many Range offices have working internet facilities? And do they all have official email ids? And if they have how many of the Range Officers know their official e mail ids? Sometime back DDT had raised the question of government officers using private e mail services and some of the officers were very angry with us. What we were trying to point out that some of the private email services are not safe and the government should have its own secure email system. Even many private companies do not allow their employees to use their private emails from their office computers.
But DDT admits it was a mistake on our part to point out this. Official email system of the government is primitive and not at all dependable. So if you really want to send or receive an email, don't use that government email id.
Coming back to our scheduling inspection through email, it's a great electronic step forward and should be extended to other fields of operation like appointments with senior officers, personal hearing, reply to SCNs, appeals etc,.
But taking a Central Excise officer for stuffing is not all that easy as sending an email. There is an elaborate system, which the Board is perhaps not aware of. But exporters have over a period realised that inspection of export consignments by Central Excise officers is a lot more economical than getting them examined at the ports by Customs officers.
CBEC Circular No. 934/24/2010-CX., Dated: August 25, 2010