Sevottam in Customs & Central Excise

By Vijay Kumar

CENTRAL Board of Excise & Customs is committed to encourage, facilitate and assist its existing and potential assesses to voluntarily discharge their tax obligations and to provide them services necessary in meeting these obligations. CBEC is also committed to discharge all its functions in a fair, impartial, transparent and consistent manner.

This will be achieved through constant monitoring of service delivery channels, customer feedback, motivation and training of personnel, continually improving reliability levels of internal processes, and identifying opportunities for improvement.

CBEC is committed to meet the requirements of IS 15700 and to review its quality policy and quality objectives to continually improve the standards of services and the effectiveness of the service quality management system with the objective of enhancing customer satisfaction .

SEVOTTAM is the CBEC platform for delivering quality in tax payer services.

Lofty aims?

Several Commissionerates have declared that they have implemented Sevottam Projects. A Commissionerate which implemented the Scheme in the beginning of this months states:

Steps taken at the Commissionerate to implement Sevottam Project w.e.f.01.04:

1. Acknowledge all written communications including declarations, intimations, applications and returns immediately and in no case later than 7 working days of their receipt.

2. Convey decision on matters relating to declarations or assessments within 15 working days of their receipt

3. Dispose of a refund claim within 3 months of receipt of a complete claim

4. Remit drawback within 7 working days of filing of manifest in the case of electronic processing of declarations

a. filing of manifest in the case of electronic processing of declarations

b. filing of a paper claim in the case of manual processing

5. Clear the goods, where the declaration relating to any consignment is complete and correct,

c. In case of exports, within 24 hrs of filing of declaration

d. In case of imports, within 48 hrs of filing of declaration

6. Complete Central Excise registration formalities within 2 working days of receiving a complete application

7. Complete examination and clearance of export consignment at factory premises within 24 hours of accepting the request

8. Give minimum 15 days advance intimation before undertaking the audit of the assesses records

9. Release of seized documents within 60 working days if they are not required by the Department.

10. Time norms for other activities, as may be prescribed, shall also be observed.

Are you getting these services? It is not enough for the Commissioners to declare that they have implemented Sevottam; they should ensure that it works efficiently.

A very distinguished former IRS officer had recently written in our columns that 'Sevottam' facility introduced in the Commissionerates refuse to put the rubber stamp in token of having received a letter, unless the person at the counter is paid a minimum of Rs.50/-.

Sheelam Param Bhushanam