| Date: |
01-10-2002
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| Notification No: |
Central Excise Circular No 670/2002
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| Issuing Authority: |
Central Excise
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| Type: |
Circular
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| File No: |
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| Subject: |
Regarding Non-payment of interest in refund/ rebate cases which are sanctioned beyond three months of filing
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Regarding Non-payment of interest in refund/ rebate cases which are
sanctioned beyond three months of filing
Central
Excise Circular No. 670 dated 1st October 2002
I
am directed to invite your attention to provisions of section 11BB of Central
Excise Act, 1944 that wherever the refund/ rebate claim is sanctioned beyond the
prescribed period of three months of filing of the claim, the interest thereon
shall be paid to the applicant at the notified rate. Board has been receiving a
large number of representations from claimants to say that interest due to them
on sanction of refund/ rebate claims beyond a period of three months has not
been granted by Central Excise formations. On perusal of the reports received
from field formations on such representations, it has been observed that in
majority of the cases, no reason is cited. Wherever reasons are given, these are
found to be very vague and unconvincing. In one case of consequential refund,
the jurisdictional Central Excise officers had taken the view that since the
Tribunal had in its order not directed for payment of interest, no interest
needs to be paid.
2. In this connection, Board would like to
stress that the provisions of section 11BB of Central Excise Act, 1944 are
attracted automatically for any refund sanctioned beyond a period of three
months. The jurisdictional Central Excise Officers are not required to wait for
instructions from any superior officers or to look for instructions in the
orders of higher appellate authority for grant of interest. Simultaneously,
Board would like to draw attention to Circular No.398/31/98-CX dated 2.6.98
wherein Board has directed that responsibility should be fixed for not disposing
of the refund/rebate claims within three months from the date of receipt of
application. Accordingly, jurisdictional Commissioners may devise a suitable
monitoring mechanism to ensure timely disposal of refund/ rebate claims. Whereas
all necessary action should be taken to ensure that no interest liability is
attracted, should the liability arise, the legal provision for the payment of
interest should be scrupulously followed.
3.
Field formations may please be informed suitably.
4.
Receipt of the same may be acknowledged.
5.
Hindi version will follow.
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