Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : vivekjohri.irs@gov.in
07th February, 2022
Chairman
DO No. 10/CH(IC)/2021
Dear Collogue
What can one say, when one loses one’s voice. The CBIC family joins the nation in mourning the sad and untimely demise of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar. Her relentless pursuit of excellence in her chosen vocation, despite all odds, will forever be an inspiration to all of us.
The week gone by saw the presentation of the Union Budget for the year 2022-2023. A number of tariff and legislative measures have been proposed as part of the Budget. I would urge all officers to familiarize themselves with the proposed changes and to sensitize/guide stakeholders, especially in these early days. Our stellar performance in GST revenue collection for the month of January, 2022 has received all-round appreciation. Kudos to all the GST field formations and State GST Departments to have once again risen to the occasion. I am confident there will be no let-up in our efforts in the coming months.
As part of our Post-Budget outreach to various stakeholders, Mumbai Zonal Unit of the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services (DGTS) organized a Webinar attended by over 1000 members of trade and industry, GST practioners and departmental officers. JS (TRU) and Commissioner (GST) interacted with the participants and adroitly fielded questions regarding the proposed changes. The feedback received from the participants would form valuable policy inputs. Congratulations to Mumbai Zonal Unit of the DGTS for conceptualizing, planning and executing the webinar. Other formations may like to organize similar sessions in their respective beats as well.
Moving ahead, a booklet containing frequently occurring discrepancies/deficiencies noticed during the inspections conducted by the Directorate General of Performance Management (DGPM) has been prepared and circulated to the field formations. This will enable them to take remedial action for commonly observed shortcomings/discrepancies, without waiting for inspections to bring it out. This is a proactive step and will enhance the efficacy of our inspections and make them more focused. Plaudits to Director General, DGPM and his team of officers for the handy compilation.
On the Anti-Evasion front, officers of CGST Delhi East Commissionerate on the basis of data scrutiny detected utilization of excess ineligible credit by an assesse. Further network analysis indicated that the input suppliers of the firm were involved in trading/ supply of goods unrelated to the business activity of the assesse. The entire duty liability has since been accepted and total recoveries in the case are about of Rs. 5 Crores. Congratulations to all the officers for their effort and hard work.
On the infrastructure front, in the course of Outreach Programmes conducted in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh a feedback was received regarding the absence of a CGST office in Leh. The matter was taken up immediately and I am happy to share that a Range Office has now been operationalized. This is the first CGST office in the Union Territory of Ladakh, covering the districts of Leh and Kargil. The absence of a CGST office in this area was acutely felt and the inauguration of the Range Office will enable greater interface between tax administration and trade and help resolve their grievances and provide them requisite facilitation. Chief Commissioner, Chandigarh CGST Zone and her team deserve our applause for operationalizing the office within a short span of two months.
As part of our endeavor to constantly improve our taxpayer services, Chief Commissioner, CGST & Central Excise, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry Zone, inaugurated the “Taxpayers Service @24×7”. The service provides for a single phone number, using which stakeholders can be routed to the jurisdictional Taxpayer Facilitation Centre. This round-the-clock facility even provides for a call back facility for calls not connected on holidays, after office hours or on account of any other reason. Congratulations to Chief Commissioner, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry Zone and his team for this initiative.
I would also like to apprise you that the Navachar ideas and suggestions received over the past two months were compiled and discussed in-depth by the Board, with a view to possible scaling up and wider deployment. Needless to say, your ideas and suggestions are a breath of fresh air and will help improve our working manifold. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
I round out the week by sharing a truly heart-warming incident. During the monthly coastal security drill “SAJAG-01/22”, the rummaging team of Chennai Customs who were on Sea patrolling duty rescued an ecologically vulnerable, Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) which badly entangled in a torn fishing net and was battling for life in the high seas. The animal was rescued and let off into the sea safely without causing any injury or harm by the timely act of the sea patrolling team. Kudos to the Superintendents and Marine staff deployed on the vessel.
Till next week!
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
