FEBRUARY 17, 2016

By Apeksha Subramanya, Consultant

Payment of pre-deposits: THE payment of pre-deposits has been made mandatory for all the appellants. The appellants are also of various types. Main noticees and co-noticees. The main noticees will be a registered company / assessee, or may be an importer having filed a bill of entry of a shipping bill. The main noticee may not have much problem in depositing the pre-deposits because they can pay it online as they are registered with the department.

As of now, for excise and service tax matters, the pre-deposits are being paid online by the main noticees. But for the co-noticees who are not registered and, who are for appeals only to challenge a penalty, they have to take a temporary registration , and generate the ASSESSEE CODE. Such amounts if paid by the main noticee company is not being accepted as proper compliance of section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Such compulsory registrations do not help the revenue at all. This is being done only because there appears to be no way out.

For making pre-deposits in customs matters, the main noticees are the importers/ exporters & once the bill of entry / shipping bill is assessed, and no arrears is reflected on logging in into the ICEGATE, then you cannot pay any amount over and above. For such persons, the hitchhiking starts, and every other person has their own method of making payment through various modes. They need to go for the manual mode, even though there are instructions for making all payments online but no gateway for such payments is available. Every Customs commissionerate has their own system of accepting the challans. The challan has to be prepared manually (as we used to do it in (g)olden era), get it countersigned by the customs officer from where the original case was booked. Then go to the bank, who in the first instance deny accepting the manual challans. But subsequently they however, after lot of persuasion accept it and give a receipt stamp.

In fact there is no such proper procedure of accepting the pre-deposits. Even after the case is in favour of the department, there are persons who have the funds to payout the penalties and not to litigate further, even in such cases also, they are made to run from pillar to post to make the manual challans. The difficulties are many in customs payments because you have to go to the original port where the import has taken place even though you are located at another place.

Payment of appeals fees: There is a fee for filing of appeals and misc petitions before Hon'ble CESTATs, across the country. As of now the practice is to prepare a demand draft and submit it. After some time we often find that the demand drafts are returned for replacement as the time period of validity of such demand drafts are expired. Such a system generates not only loss to the revenue/ CBEC by delayed credit but creates mis-trust and doubts on the functioning of the registry of the esteemed CESTATs where we bow our heads for justice.

It is a very simple issue and always correctible and it would hardly take not more than a couple of hours for the CBEC to immediately act and create a gateway for accepting such payments. The ultimate motive is to receive moneys on behalf of the government without delay.

It is suggested that the CBEC in their website can create a facility for making online payments through their NSDL gateway of such pre-deposits / fees etc with minimum following fields,

(1) Name of the Appellant,

(2) Appeal filed against OIO/OIA,

(3) Commissionerate,

(4) Description [Pre-deposit/Fees for Appeals / Fees for Misc Application]

(5) Amount (Rs.).

No registration would be required for making online payments. By doing so, any person across the country can pay it online, generate a challan with a challan no. and submit it to the appropriate forum without any delay. This is what is expected from a digital india, and save the countrymen from unnecessary hardships!!

[The author is a retired Superintendent of Customs and the views expressed are strictly personal.]