Revenue Tinkering – It helps us too!

By Vijay Kumar

The CEO of a PSU was asked to meet the Commissioner of Central Excise in his office. The purpose? The Commissioner would request the PSU MD to pay Rs 25 Crores in PLA in March 2005. The MD could not make it to the Commissioner’s office. So he sent his deputy. The Commissioner was not amused. He refused to meet the deputy and asked him to meet the Additional Commissioner. The Deputy was equally adamant, “why should I meet the Additional Commissioner, when he wants to request me to pay more duty?, he thought.” So he walked away without meeting the Additional Commissioner. The next day the Range Superintendent met the offended Deputy and asked him whether he was going to pay the extra amount and he was surprised to hear that they were willing to deposit that extra payment. “But Why?” wondered the Superintendent. “We too have our targets”, explained the PSU boss, “ and the best way to reach our target of production and clearance is to pay excise duty – on the goods for the manufacture of which raw material is yet to be purchased.”