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

             The Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), now known as the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) (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, Goods & Service Tax.  The CBIC also exercises overall supervision over Customs, Goods &  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 Zones headed by Chief Commissioners of Customs, Goods & Service Tax, who are exercising supervision over the various Commissioners under their charge.  These GST Commissionerates are headed by Commissioners of GST & 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 GST & Customs in their jurisdiction.

            There is a post of Commissioners  (Appeals) for both GST and Customs cases. He/she decides on the statutory appeals made against the orders of officers of the rank of Addl/Jt Commrs and Dy/Asst Commrs and 9 posts of Commissioners of GST and Customs (Adjudication), who decide large and complicated Adjudication cases wherein jurisdiction of more than one Commissionerate is involved.  

             There is also an Audit Commissionerate for GST and Central Excise & Service Tax (legacy issues) with its Headquarters at Guwahati and having jurisdiction over the whole of Guwahati Zone.

            The following Commissionerates are under the charge of the Chief Commissioner of GST, CEX and Customs, Guwahati Zone:

1. Agartala GST & CEX   Commissionerate

2. Aizawl GST   & CEX Commissionerate

3. Dibrugarh GST  & CEX  Commissionerate

4. Dimapur GST   & CEX Commissionerate

5. Guwahati GST   & CEX Commissionerate

6. Imphal GST   & CEX Commissionerate

7. Itanagar GST   & CEX Commissionerate

8. Shillong GST  & CEX  Commissionerate

9.  Customs (P), N.E.R., Shillong

10.  Commissioner (Appeals), Guwahati.

11. Commissioner (Audit), Guwahati

(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. The above powers have been extended for Goods & Service Tax also. Though Goods and & Service Tax have been levied on almost all the products since 1st July, 2017, issues concerning Central Excise & Service Tax shall still remain till all the pendency of legacy issues/cases are cleared.

          (b)  Goods & Service Tax  or GST as commonly referred to is a comprehensive destination based In direct Value Added Tax (VAT) on supply of goods as well as services levied by both the Centre and the States.  Under the present assessment scheme, a supplier is required to assess himself the duty payable on the goods to be supplied by him and deposit the same in authorized Banks electronically.  The details of goods supplied, duty paid are required to be furnished in periodical online returns such as GSTR-1/3B returns, to the Department.   These returns are required to be scrutinized and checked online by the concerned GST officers posted in the Range to verify that the correctness of the amount of the tax so paid.

       ( c)  The power and duties of the officers are defined in Customs Act, 1962, Central Excise Act, 1944 and CGST Act, 2017 and are updated as per Rules and Circulars issued by CBIC.

 (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 GST/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 GST (Gazetted Group B) .  Each Range Officer of the division  is assisted by 2 to 3 Inspectors Group ’B’ (Non-Gazetted).  

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 GST Taxpayer is required to apply online for Registration in the GSTN Portal. The said application after  filing is allocated to Centre or State by the GSTN Server. The application is then processed by the concerned Central Processing Cell. After the due approval from the Cell, it is automatically given the GSTIN number by the Server. In case of GST Practitioner, the above process remains the same except approval has to be given online by the jurisdictional Asst/Dy. Commissioner.

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

3  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. 

                             Similar provisions for adjudication of GST cases have been made in the CGST Act, 2017

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. 

                                 Similar provisions for refund of GST have been made in the CGST Act, 2017. Under Section 54 of CGST Act, a taxpayer can can claim for refund by applying online in the GSTN portal within two years from the relevant date.Juirsdictional Asst/Dy Commissioner is the proper officer to sanction the the refund so claimed.                               

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 and now of GST taxpayers is/to be 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  CBIC is to administer GST, 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 & GST 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, GST and Excise procedures;

·        encouraging voluntary compliance;

·        evolving cooperative initiatives.

Our Key Functions and Services

Regulatory Functions

• Levy and collection of Customs and Central Excise duties, CGST & IGST
• Registration and monitoring of units manufacturing excisable goods and service providers
• Receipt and scrutiny of declarations and returns filed with the department
• Prevention of smuggling and combating evasion of duties and service tax
• Enforcement of border control on goods and conveyances
• Assessment, examination and clearance of imported goods and export goods
• Implementation of export promotion measures
• Clearance of international passengers and their baggage
• Resolution of disputes through administrative and legal measures
• Sanction of refund, rebate and drawback
• Realization of arrears of revenue
• Audit of assessments for ensuring tax compliance.

Service Functions

• Dissemination of information on law and procedures through electronic and print media
• Enabling filing of declarations, returns and claims through online services.
• Providing information on the status of processing of declarations, returns and claims
• Assisting the right holders in protecting their intellectual property rights
• Responding to public enquiries relating to Customs, Central Goods and Service Tax matters
• Providing Customs services such as examination of goods and factory stuffing of export goods at clients' sites, as per policy.

OUR STANDARDS

We shall follow the following time norms in our services:

• Acknowledge all written communications including declarations, intimations, applications and returns immediately and in no case later than 7 working days of their receipt
• Convey decision on matters relating to declarations or assessments within 15 working days of their receipt
• Dispose of a refund claim within 3 months of receipt of a complete claim
• Remit drawback within 7 working days of,
  - filing of manifest in the case of electronic processing of declarations
  - filing of a paper claim in the case of manual processing
• Clear the goods, where the declaration relating to any consignment is complete and correct,
  - in case of exports, within 24 hours of filing of declaration
  - in case of imports, within 48 hours of filing of declaration
• Complete GST registration formalities within 2 Working days of receiving a complete application
• Complete examination and clearance of export consignment at factory premises within 24 hours of accepting the request
• Give minimum 15 days advance intimation before undertaking the audit of assessees' records
• Release of seized documents, which have not been relied on for the issue of the show cause notice, within 30 days from the date of issue of the said notice, unless otherwise provided under the law.
• Time norms for other activities, as may be prescribed, shall also be observed.

We shall endeavour to achieve minimum compliance level of 80% of the aforesaid time norms.

Compliance levels shall be gradually enhanced through close monitoring, standardization of processes, use of IT enabled services etc.

Complaints And Grievances

As a responsive and taxpayer-friendly department, we shall have in place the following mechanism:

• We shall promptly acknowledge complaints within 48 hours of receipt and attempt to provide final replies within 30 working days of their receipt. In case it is not possible to send the final reply within the time specified, an interim reply shall be furnished to the complainant.
• In case, the complaint is not attended to, within the prescribed time norms or the remedy offered is not satisfactory, an appeal can be filed with the jurisdictional Commissioner / Chief Commissioner.
• Common complaints and grievances can also be taken up with the Public Grievance Committee, Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee, Regional Advisory Committee and in the Open House meetings.

The detailed procedure for complaints handling process can be viewed on the CBIC website www.cbic.gov.in

We Further Commit That

• All officers will carry Identity Cards and all uniformed officers will wear name badges while on official duty.
• Personal and business information disclosed to us will be kept confidential subject to the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
• Assessees will be visited only by authorized officers.
• Due respect will be given to the tax compliance record of the assessees.
• Clearance of consignments will be withheld only after explaining the reasons thereof and an opportunity will be provided before passing any final order.
• Baggage of international passengers will be opened only after explaining the reasons and in their presence.
• Before searching any premises or persons, the reasons thereof shall be explained. Officers undertaking any search operations shall offer themselves for personal search beforehand.
• Full information about appeal procedure shall be provided alongwith details of the authorities with whom appeals can be filed.
• Stakeholders will be consulted continually while reviewing our policies and procedures. Timely publicity of all changes in the law and procedures shall be provided.
• Efforts will be made to enhance the use of information technology in all work areas and enable the trade to have IT based information access.
• Every possible assistance will be rendered by the Public Relations Officer in the Divisional Office/Commissionerate Office/Custom House. The name and telephone number of the Public Relations Officer will be prominently displayed at such offices. Relevant information and details of procedures, as may be required, will also be provided.

The service attributes shall be measured through customer perception feedback on the above commitments with the intention of continuous improvement in service delivery.

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 Goods & Service Tax 2017

(b)     The Customs Tariff Act 1975

(c)      The Central Excise Rules 2002

(d)      Central Goods & Service Tax Rules 2017

        The above books are published and are also available in the market.  The CBIC has also uploaded Instructions/Circular as well as Acts and Rules of GST for the guidance of its officers. All these Act, Rules, Instructions are available on CBIC website www.cbic.gov.in.

Transfer policy and Transfer Orders can be accessed on the website through the following links

1. http://cexcusner.gov.in/xferpol_ccoshg.pdf

2. http://cexcusner.gov.in/Departmental/guideline_transfer_posting.pdf

3. http://cexcusner.gov.in/establishment_promotion%202019.htm

(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 GSTR-3B,GSTR-1 etc.  Format of these Applications and returns are available in the GST Law 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. This Office acts as a Central Body for coordinating with affairs of the above Committees The Commissioners are also maintaining Seva Kendras or Help Centres for the assistance of Tax Payers.  Such Seva Kenras 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    

         Monthly remuneration of the officers are being maintained by Guwahati GST Commissionerate and can be accessed at http://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 (http://cexcusner.gov.in/budget.htm)

         This office merely acts as a Central Body for allocation of Budgetary grants to the Commssionerates of Guwahati Zone.

(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 

         Not applicable.

 (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.cbic.gov.in web site.

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

         (c) Commissionerates are maintaining the revenue data of both GST as well as Central Excise & Service Tax 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)       Seva Kendras/Help Centres : At least one Seva Kendra at each of Headquarter and Divisional Office is maintained in the GST formations and all the GST Range Office has a Seva Kendra to help the taxpayers.

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

(c)       Websites : http://www.cbic.gov.in (CBIC) and/or http://www.cexcusner.gov.in (Chief Commissioner Office, Guwahati Zone) and/or http://cexstshillong.gov.in (Shillong GST Commissionerate) and/or http://cexdibrugarh.gov.in (Dibrugarh  GST Commissionerate) and/or http://www.centralexciseguwahati.gov.in (Guwahati GST Commissionerate) and/or http://shillongcustoms.gov.in (Customs Prev. Commissionerate).

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

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

(xvii) Programmes to advance the understanding of RTI:- Officers are time to time nominated for training on RTI conducted by NACIN.

Educational programmes: The said programmes are conducted by the respective Commissionerates.

(i)          Efforts to encourage public authority to participate in these programmes: The said programmes are conducted by the respective Commissionerates.

• Latest Training was imparted on 08 October, 2018 to the following officer:-

• Sl. No.	Name of the Participant	Designation	Remarks
  1.	Sh. Vinod Kumar Gahlout	Commissioner, GST&CX Commissionerate,Agartala	nil

(xvii) No. Of Employees against whom disciplinary action has been proposed/taken(Section4(2))- As on August 2019

1. COMPLAINTS (Nos)

2. ACTION ON THE CVC ADVICE (Nos.)*

3. DEPARTMENTAL INQUIRIES (Nos.)

(a)     UNDER THE CVC JURISDICTION **

(b)     OTHERS (Nos.)***

4. PROSECUTION SANCTIONS

1.       AGE WISE DATA OF DISPOSED DEPARTMENTAL PROCEEDINGS (time taken to conclude the proceedings  from the stage of registration of complaint till final disposal) (Nos.)

2.       QUALITATIVE PARAMETERS OF VIGILANCE ADMINISTRATION

(a)     MAJOR PENALTY PROCEEDINGS

(b)     MINOR PENALTY PROCEEDINGS

(c)     RANK-WISE BREAK UP OF PUNISHMENT AWARDED

3. LIST OF CASES WHERE MAJOR PENALTY IMPOSED

2. 1 Budget and Programme

• Total Budget- http://cexcusner.gov.in/budget.htm

• Revised Budget- For the Current Financial Year, the formulation is under process. Once done, it will be sent to DGHRD as well as updated here

2.2. Foreign and Domestic tours

• Foreign tours- NA

• Domestic tours Of the Chief Commissioner( Current Financial Year)

Information related to procurements - Updated and available on the website

CAG and PAC paras and the action taken reports (ATRs) after these have been laid on the table of both houses of the parliament- The said information is maintained by the respective commissionerates under this office.

3.Publicity Band Public Interface

The office has made available all the relevant rules, laws, acts, notifications etc. with respect to its field of work on the website. Moreover, important links to CBIC Website, DGFT website,  Union budget etc. have also been published.

The Commissioners are also maintaining Seva Kendras or Help Centres for the assistance of Tax Payers.  Such Seva Kenras facilitate interaction/consultation with the tax payers.

Details of Seva Kendra for this office

Name of the Officer - Shri Ravekesh Kumari Tiwari(Inspector)

Timings : 9:30 am to 6 pm( only working days)

Contact Number: 03612972058

Intimation of Details of policies/decisions to the public

The office through its website maintains the spirit of transparency by regularly publishing Trade Notices, Public Noitces and other information on its website as well as on its Social media handles- Twitter and Facebook.

Further, due to widespread publicity of its e mail address, the office frequently receives feedback or complaints on the working of Customs, Gst, Cex or Service tax. Such feedbacks help in better office administration.

More details can be accessed through-

 http://cexcusner.gov.in/Trade%20Notices.htm

http://cexcusner.gov.in/Public_Notice.htm

Dissemination of Information widely and in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public -

As stated above

Form of Accessibility of information manual/handbook( Available Free of cost)

Customs - http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/deptt_offcr/cs-manual

GST -http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/gst/index

CEX-http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/deptt_offcr/cs-manual

Service Tax- http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-servicetax/service-tax

Besides, this GST flyers are also available at the Seva Kendra and all the meetings that are held with the taxpayers and the business community

The Information in the manual is regularly updated as per the guidelines of the GST council, Ministry of Finance and CBIC.

Manual on MSME's ease of GST released by the department(Assamese):

E governance

FAQs

Customs - http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/customs

GST -http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/gst/index

CEX- http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/central-excise

Service Tax- http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-servicetax/service-tax

Information disclosed so that the public have minimum resort to use of RTI Act to obtain information

The office through its website maintains the spirit of transparency by regularly publishing Trade Notices, Public Noitces and other information on its website as well as on its Social media handles- Twitter and Facebook.

More details can be accessed at-

http://cexcusner.gov.in/Trade%20Notices.htm

http://cexcusner.gov.in/Public_Notice.htm

http://cexcusner.gov.in/xferpol_ccoshg.pdf

http://cexcusner.gov.in/Departmental/guideline_transfer_posting.pdf

Replies to questions asked in the Parliament

Questions asked in the current Financial Year(2019-20):

1. GST- 10

2. Customs- 15

Replies to all the questions are given promptly and there is zero pendency as on 17.09.2019.