Don't keep your assessees waiting - CBDT tells its officers
CBDT has instructed its officers:
It has been brought to the notice of the Board that some of the officers are issuing notices to the taxpayers/witnesses/representatives etc. indicating a standard time of appointment. Thus, many persons called for hearing etc. on a day by an officer are given the same time for appearance. Naturally the persons are made to wait for their turn. Such actions, apart from causing avoidable inconvenience to the taxpayers/witnesses/representatives etc. cause great embarrassment to the Government.
All the officers, are therefore, advised to strictly maintain the appointment schedule in spirit with the Citizen's Charter, 2014 of the Department which specifically provides that we (in the Department) endeavour "to adhere to the schedule of appointments with taxpayers". All the Supervisory officers, i.e. the CCsIT, CsIT and the Addl. CsIT are requested to ensure that officers reporting to them strictly comply with this instruction and avoid fixing multiple appointments at the same time. Instances of disregard to these instructions may be viewed seriously.
Unfortunately many officers exhibit their power by making people wait outside their offices. Some even brag, “I made him wait for two hours”. This is only a sick sense of power. I have seen an Additional Commissioner making a retired Board Member wait outside his office, just for the ego of it. I told the Additional Commissioner that his prestige would have been enhanced if he had gone out and escorted the retired Board Member to his room. Many officers call assessees and their advocates for hearing and are many a time not available and they don't bother to inform the assessee that they are not available. Even when they are available, they attend to phone calls from their family members, friends and bosses. Without the slightest hesitation, they leave the visitors and go when a boss calls them- they don't tell the boss that they are in a hearing.
Of course fortunately everybody is not like this. When I sent my card to meet a Commissioner, the Commissioner himself came out and told me that he is in a meeting with an assessee and asked if I could wait for ten minutes. Such officers are rare and becoming part of an extinct community.
The CBEC should also issue such instructions and there should be a system to ensure that the instructions are followed.
CBDT F.No.Dir(Hqrs.)/Ch.(DT)/29/2013, Dated: August 22, 2014