CIRCULAR No.493/59/99-CX Dated 12th November. 1999
(This Circular supercited vide Circular No.662/53/2002-CX, Dt. 17/09/2002 )
Sub : Central Excise -Introduction of New Excise Control Code (ECC) Number based on Permanent Account Number (PAN) allotted by the Income-tax Department-Instructions regarding-
I am directed to say that Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce, has decided that all persons dealing with various regulatory agencies, such
as the Central Excise and Customs Department (including Service Tax Administration), Income Tax Department, Offices of Director General of Foreign Trade etc. should be identified with reference to a common identification number. It has been further decided that such common identification number to be used by various agencies will be based on the Permanent Account Number allotted by the Income Tax Department. A background note on this matter is enclosed for your information.
(See
Annexure-I).
In pursuance of the aforesaid, it has been decided to issue a new series of Excise control Code Number (New ECC Number) to all Central Excise assessees and registered dealers (hereinafter referred to as "concerned persons).
The Central Excise assessees and registered dealers shall obtain New ECC Number before 1.1.2000. Instructions for the allotment of ECC Number to Service Tax assessees will be issued separately. The procedure for allotment of New ECC Number to concerned persons is specified in Paragraph 3 of this Circular.
2.
Components of New ECC Number
The new ECC number will be alphanumeric. The first part would be the 10-Character PAN issued by Income-tax authorities to that concerned person to whom the New ECC Number is to be allotted. The second part would comprise of a fixed 2-Character alpha-code, which will be as follows:
Category Code
(1) Central Excise manufacturers XM
(Including registered warehouses)
(2) Registered Dealers XD
This will be followed by 3-Character numeric-code- 001, 002, 003... etc. In case, a manufacturer, registered with the Central Excise Department, has only one factory / dealer"s premise / warehouse, the last three characters will be "00l". If there are more than one factories / Warehouses / dealer"s premises of such a person having common PAN for all such factories / warehouses / dealer"s premises, the last 3
character of the new ECC would be "001, 002, 003 …….etc.
Examples:
(1) Where the concerned person has only one factory:
New ECC Number will be - PAN + XM + 001
Suppose PAN is ABCDE1234H, the New ECC Number will be -
ABCDE1234H XM001
(2) Where the concerned person has more than one factories, say 3 factories, having PAN as
aforesaid, then the New ECC Number will be:
ABCDE 1234H XM 001
ABCDE 1234H XM 002
ABCDE 1234H XM 003
(3)Where the concerned person has one factory and is also registered as dealer, having PAN as
aforesaid, then the New ECC Number will be:
ABCDE 1234H XM 001 (for Factory)
ABCDE 1234H XD 001 (for Dealer)
3.
Procedure for allotment of New ECC
- Every concerned person shall be required to obtain a New ECC Number.
- They shall apply in the form (in duplicate) given in Annexure-II to this Circular along with a certified copy of PAN (letter / card issued by the Income-tax Department), to the Jurisdictional Range Superintendent of Central Excise and obtain a dated acknowledgment. An entry should be made in a register (serially numbered) indicating name of the concerned person, address, Range and existing ECC Number and date of forwarding of" application, New ECC Number (to be filled when allotted). The Entry Number (Receipt Number should be endorsed on the Acknowledgement Slip.
- A Special Counter will be opened in each of the Ranges for receipt of the application. The acknowledgment will be given immediately.
- All applications will be forwarded to Divisional Office. A Special Cell will be constituted in each Division to process the papers immediately. Where the applications are complete in all respects and there is only one factory of the
PAN-holder or more than one factory within the jurisdiction of the said Division, New ECC Number will be allotted within 3 working days and the letter will be issued by the Assistant / Deputy Commissioner to the concerned persons (applicants) in the form given in Annexure-III. One copy of the letter will also be forwarded to the concerned Pay & Accounts Officer (PAO).
- Where there are more than one factories of the PAN-holder falling outside the jurisdiction of a Division, all such applications will be forwarded to the Commissionerate Headquarters within 3 working days of the receipt of the application from the Range Office.
- A Cell will be constituted in the Headquarter as well to process the applications. Where all the factories fall within the jurisdiction of the Commissionerate, the New ECC Number will be issued by the Commissionerate and intimated to the concerned persons (applicants) individually and the copies will be forwarded to the concerned PAO, in the format given in Annexure-III. Where the factories of the PAN-holder fall in the jurisdiction of different Commissionerates, the applications will be sent by the Commissioner to the Director General of Inspection, New Delhi within 3 working days of the receipt from the Division Office.
- DGI will also constitute a Special Cell to process such applications. The New ECC Number will be allotted by DGI and intimated to the concerned persons in the format given in Annexure-III. The copies of these letters will also be forwarded to the concerned PAO.
4. National Information Centre (NIC) has been asked to develop a suitable software
as a part of "SERMON Package to capture the details of Annexure-II in the System and also to generate Annexure-III letter electronically. Separate instructions will be issued in this regard. For the time being, the manual exercise of processing of applications received should commence immediately. Once this operation is automated / data entered in computers, the Directory of New ECC Number and its updates should be provided to the concerned Pay & Accounts Officer (PAO) in electronic form (Floppies / Tapes / CDs), in addition to the individual intimations in the manner specified in Paragraph 3 of this Circular.
5. A database should be created in each Division on the basis of these applications. It is proposed that more information relating to each assessee will be added in order to have comprehensive assessees" profile and to facilitate cross-referencing.
6. In this regard, it is mentioned that it shall be compulsory for all the Central Excise assessees and dealers registered under the Central Excise Rules, 1944 to obtain PAN whether or not they pay Income-tax. The Income Tax Department has already been requested to allot PAN on priority basis to all Central Excise assessees and Registered Dealers.
7. It is further mentioned that the New ECC Number will be introduced w.e.f. 1.1.2000. However, the existing ECC Number will continue to be mentioned in all the excise documents which specify / prescribe for mentioning of ECC Number, including the TR-6 Challans. However, from 1.4.2000, only the New ECC Number will be used.
8. In the said application, the Location Code is to be filled in by the Range Office. After re-organisation of Commissionerates, the Directorate of Statistics &
Intelligence has already allocated revised location six digits Codes to all range Offices.
9. The process for allotment of the New ECC Code should be started immediately. It should be taken up as a Special Drive by the field formations and the work should be completed latest by 15th December, 1999. For this purpose, the Commissioners should interact with the field officers and the assessees so that the applications are received expeditiously and processed under the supervision of senior officers. The work should be monitored by the Commissioner on weekly-basis. Apart from issuing trade notice, wide publicity should be given in the local newspapers, including publishing the format of the application and the guidelines. The publicity material / trade notice should also indicate the time-frame for submission of application, its processing and delivery of new ECC Number to assessees. The Commissioner will ensure that this work is completed by the scheduled time. The Director General of Inspection (DGI) will also monitor the progress on weekly-basis and issue necessary directions so that the specified schedule is strictly adhered to.
10. Each Commissioner will report to the Director General of Inspection, New Delhi by 20th December, 1999 about completion of this work. DGI will send a report to the Board by 27th December, 1999 which will also include the status of allotment of New ECC Number by the DGICCE.
11. The Principal Chief Controller of Accounts under Central Board of Excise & Customs will take immediate measures to develop suitable software for Central Excise revenue accounting in consultation with NIC.
12. Receipt of this Circular may please be acknowledged.
Sd/-
(P. K. Sinha)
Under Secretary (CX.6)
ANNEXURE - I
Background Note on a Common Business Identifier for Importers /Exporters, Central Excise assessees, Income-tax assessees, etc.-
Presently, different agencies of the Government use separate numbers for identification of individuals and business in relation to the activities concerning the agencies. The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) allocates Importer Exporter Code
No. (IEC No.) for identifying importers and exporters; the Income-tax Department issues the Permanent Account Number (PAN) for all Income tax, Wealth tax assessees;
the Central Excise Department is also registering the various manufacturers and allocating a separate series of registration numbers. The RBI separately used to allocate a CNX number for identification of the exporters.
The main objective of allocating an alphanumerical number by the Government agencies is to identify the assessees / exporters / importers. It is also issued to identify in some cases the concerned office where the person would be assessed or registered. Further an alphanumeric number helps in processing of the information relation to the assessee on computers.
A Working Group comprising officers of the different Departments had examined the feasibility of adopting a Common Identifier by the various agencies. It was observed that the assessee will be considerably "benefited if he has to obtain identification number for use by the various Government agencies. With the increasing import and export activity and universal extension of
Modvat, it has become necessary to develop linkages between the import transactions, the manufacturing activity and the export transactions. Besides, maintaining a complete profile of the person concerned, wherein the records of his conduct, with any of the Government Departments could be ascertained, such a linkage can help in verification of availment of
Modvat, excise rebate on exports etc. Such a measure would be particularly
helpful in introducing selective risk based assessment of import / export transactions instead of verification of each and every shipping bill or bill of entry. A common identifier
would immediately help obtain an overall assessment of the assessee"s credentials with different Government agencies. Various Government Departments particularly the DGFT, the Income-tax and the Customs and Excise Departments are presently engaged in computerisation of their operations. There is need to share information from the computers of one of the Departments with the other Departments. This exchange of information will be made easier if there are common identification numbers.
It has been decided to adopt the Permanent Account Number issued by the Income-tax Department as the basis for the Common Identifier. PAN is a 10-digits alpha numeric code and can identify upto 96 crores business entities. Apart from being unique (PAN is issued centrally and is generated by the computer system), it has the widest application (more than 2 crores assesses as against about 3 lakhs importers
exporters using IE Codes and about 12 lakhs Central Excise assessees using ECC Number). Further, since it is not dependent on the location of the office of registration, it will not get modified on account of re-origanisation of jurisdiction of the concerned Department / Offices.
As per the decision of the Government, PAN will be the only identifier for cross-referencing with the other Departments though each Department is free to use any internal codes which it may consider necessary.
Annexure - II
(In Duplicate)
(To be filed in the jurisdictional Range Office)
FORMAT FOR APPLICATION FOR OBTAINING NEW EXCISE CONTROL CODE NUMBER
(Manufacturers /Registered Dealers / Warehouses)
TO
The Deputy /Assistant Commissioner,
(Address of the Division).
Subject: Allotment of New Excise Control Code Number - Regarding
Sir,
I / We may kindly be allotted New Excise Control Code Number (New ECC Number) for which the details are as
under:-
FORMAT FOR THE DETAILS (All entries shall be in BLOCK letters)
- Name of the Applicant(s) ___________________________________________________
- Permanent Account Number ___________________________________________________
(Issued by the Income Tax Department) (Attested copy to be enclosed)
- Applicant"s Factory /Warehouse/ Registered Dealer"s Premise
(strike whichever is not applicable)
Existing ECC Number:
Registration Number
Address :
Telephone Nos.:
Fax Nos. :
E-mail Address:
Range ___________Division______________ Commissionerate __________________
Location Code (6 digit - To be filled by the Range Office)_________________
- OTHER* Factories / Warehouses / Registered Dealer"s Premises
(strike whichever is/are not applicable)
*[Each of these Factories / Warehouses / Registered Dealer"s Premises have to
apply individually in their own jurisdictional Range Office(s)]
| Sl.No. | Name and address | Whether factory OR warehouse OR Dealer | Existing ECC No. | Registration No. | Tel. Nos(s). |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | | | | | |
| Fax No. | E-Mail No. | Range | Division | Commissionerate, |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| | | | | |
[Please furnish the aforesaid information for each of the other such factory(ies) / warehouse(s) /
dealer"s premise(s)]
I / We hereby certify that the information given in this form is true, correct and complete in every respect and that I am authorised to sign on behalf of the applicant.
(Signature of the authorized person)
Date:
Place:
NOTE:
1 Factories, registered dealers depots or warehouses shall use separate application, as the case may be, for allotment of New ECC Number.
2. Location Code is to be filed by the Range Office based on the new codes allotted by the Directorate of S & I.
3. Telephone numbers / Fax Number / E-Mail address are to be filled if available.
Acknowledgment
Subject. Allotment of New Excise Control Code Number - Regarding -
Your application for allotment of New ECC Number received on_______________ is hereby acknowledged. The Receipt Number
is _______________________dated_________________.
(Signature of the Sector Officer)
with Official Seal
Annexure - III
Address of the Central Excise Office
To,
(Name and address of the Applicant)
Subject: Allotment of New Excise Control Code Number-Application Receipt
No. ________________dated_____________________.
Sir / Madam,
1. In place of your existing ECC Number __________________________ the New ECC
Number is ___________________.
OR
Your New ECC Number is ___________________________________.
(For new applicants)
2. The Location Code concerning your factory / warehouse / registered dealer"s premise is ______________.
3. You are advised to deposit Central Excise duties and other related Government dues in any of the authorised branches of the nominated banks, i.e._____________________.
4. You are requested to use the New ECC Number along with the existing ECC Number (if any with effect from 1.1.2000 till 31.3.2000 on the requisite documents / records. The New ECC Number shall be exclusively used with effect from 1.4.2000.
Signature of the
Deputy / Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise
Or Deputy / Assistant Director, DGICCE
With official seal
Date:
Place:
(Pl. refer
Cir. No. 652/43/2002-CX, Dt. 08/08/2002 for Allotment of 15 digit PAN based Registration Numbers)
(Note: see
1. Service Tax Cir. No. 35/3/2001-CX.4, dt. 27/08/2001
2. Cir. No. 594/31/2001-CX, dt. 19/10/2001)
(Note:- See
As per New Central Excise Manual 2001
1. Part II of Ch. 2)
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