Ministry of Finance
Chairman
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. No. : +91-11-23092849, Fax No. : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : ajit.m@gov.in
D.O.No. 50/CH(IC)/2020
Date: 18th January 2021
Dear Colleague
As you are aware, the RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme has come into operation from 01st January, 2021. The scheme seeks to refund duties / taxes / levies at the Central / State and local levels, which have not already been exempted or remitted or given as credit. It is based on the globally accepted principle that taxes and duties should not be exported along with the goods. Under this new scheme, exporters will get a refund at notified rates, which would be credited in an exporter’s ledger account. The RoDTEP rates, attendant conditions and exclusions would be notified soon. A special feature of the scheme is that its entire operation will be by end-to-end digitisation under ICES. This includes the creation of an Electronic Cash Ledger as provided for under Section 51B of the Customs Act, 1962. This Ledger would be credited with the remission amount in the form of transferable duty credit electronic scrips. These e-scrips may be used for payment of Customs duty and will also be freely transferable from the ledger of one IEC to another online. This module would have a facilitation, monitoring and audit mechanism through RMS. It speaks well for the maturity and robustness of the Customs ICES system that such a scheme is being implemented, which allows for monitoring the entire life cycle of the claim, including export realisation, export documentation, transfer of e-scrip etc. The module was developed in record time. It is our responsibility to ensure the smooth working of this scheme. The work done by the ADG Systems, Shri Anupam Prakash and his team of officers is definitely praise worthy.
As is evident from increased economic activities, the Indian economy is gradually coming out of the shadows of the pandemic. This has also resulted in a record GST collection last month. Your efforts in ensuring GST return compliance as a result of extensive outreach and handholding exercise and the drive against the fake-invoice menace and fraudsters have added to the revenue growth. During the last quarter of the financial year that we are in, it’s essential to maintain the same vigil. The due dates for various GST returns such as GSTR-3B, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, etc. for normal taxpayers (small and large) as well as taxpayers under categories such as OIDAR and Composition scheme falls in the ensuing week. It is important to handhold and nudge the taxpayers of your jurisdiction for timely filing of returns. Social media plays an important role in taking this message to the tax payer and must be made use of particularly in the vernacular language so that it has a better reach.
Looking back at the work done during the past year, DGHRD and Administration wing of the Board has been proactively setting higher benchmarks in their endeavours. The HRM-I and HRM-II wing of DGHRD and the team of officers led by Commissioner (Coordination) and JS (Administration) have successfully completed many multiple DPCs and DSCs leading to many promotions of which the bulk came during the last week of December, 2020. E-Pratinyukti (online deputation module) has been successfully launched and implemented with an endeavour to provide transparent and time-bound processing in deputation cadre clearance process. Recruitment Rules of various grades have been notified which includes publishing of RRs of Administrative Officer and Senior Private Secretary in the Gazette of India etc. Amendment to RRs of certain grades have progressed speedily and are in advanced stages of finalisation. The HRM-II wing has also completed the zonal allocation exercise of about 2606 successful candidates of CGLE, 2017 in association with the AD IIIB, CBIC. An `e-Disposition List’ module has also been designed which will replace the existing manual system of monthly reporting of disposition by the field formations. The Joint Secretary empanelment orders have been issued for 26 officers of 1994, 1995 and 1996 batches. The HRD wing has also submitted its Cadre Restructuring Proposal after extensive stake holder consultations.
The infrastructure wing of DGHRD has overseen various big-ticket projects during the year 2020 such as completion of the construction of GST Bhawan at Panchkula, sanction for construction of new office building for Udaipur CGST Commissionerate, Kolhapur Commissionerate & Audit Circle at Kolhapur, etc. The exercise of updating the Asset Management Register with a revised format is also almost done. The Board will soon take stock of similar projects in the pipeline for timely completion.
Similarly, the Welfare Wing of the DGHRD has been proactively making efforts to take care of the concerns of the officers and staff amidst the pandemic. A new Scheme granting financial assistance of Rs. 5.96 crore for taking preventive and welfare measures for fighting against the outbreak of COVID-19 had been launched in April 2020. Another scheme for funding of Annual Medical Examination of Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ departmental officials of age 40 years and above, on the lines of the Annual Medical Examination available to Group ‘A’ officers, from the Welfare Fund also had been launched. The Consolidated Guidelines for grant of Ex-gratia financial assistance to help the bereaved families of deceased Departmental officials were revised to grant Rs. 5 lakh and then enhanced to Rs. 7 lakh, to the dependent family of the officers/ staff whose death is attributable to COVID-19, contacted while on duty. Enhanced amounts have also been approved for deaths occurring due to other causes. The guidelines for setting up / refurbishing of Departmental Gyms/ Recreation/ Sports centres were revised whereby financial assistance has been enhanced to more than twice the earlier assistance for procuring latest equipment and energy efficient items for setting up/ refurbishing the facilities. The scheme for grant of financial assistance for promotion of adventure sports was revised, enhancing the cap of financial assistance from Rs. 10,000/- to upto Rs 2.5 lakh. An amount of Rs. 10.77 crore was sanctioned under various schemes from the Welfare Fund during the calendar year 2020. I hope that for extending more and more benefits to the needy. field formations would be proactive in disseminating benefits of these new / revised schemes along with the existing schemes for the benefit of departmental officials. They should also proactively set up/ refurbish common facilities in the formations of CBIC by sending requests / proposals to I&W Wing of DGHRD in terms of the schemes / guidelines available on DGHRD’ s website.
In spite of these efforts and achievements, it is quite natural that there would be a desire for more. At the same time, disquiet among the staff is always a matter of concern for the administration. Changes in policies in HR are, nowadays, invariably done on the basis of stakeholder consultations while, at the same time, taking into consideration administrative exigencies which, it must be appreciated, cannot be ignored. Any anomalies or difficulties which arise need to be ironed out in-house utilising the grievance redressal mechanism in place. We need to ensure that we do not breach the discipline that is expected of us as government servants, for instance, by utilising social media to air one’s grievances or seek changes in policy matters. I am sure that with a positive approach, we can, in time, find amicable solutions for most issues.
Shri Siddhesh Pande, Tax Assistant and Table Tennis player from Pune CGST Zone deserves our appreciation for representing India in the Common Wealth Championship & various International tournaments. He has won a plethora of awards in his budding career and was recently felicitated by Shri Kiren Rijiju, Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports for his achievements. We too celebrate his achievements and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
Let me, in conclusion, share some traditional good wishes for you and your family which have, perhaps, acquired much more significance in today’s world than ever before:
“……………. :- May all become Happy.”
“……………. :- May all be free from Illness.”
with best wishes
Yours sincerely
(M. Ajit Kumar)
To,
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
