CHAPTER 2

Part-I

REGISTRATION AND E.C.C. NUMBER
1. Introduction

1.1 For the administration of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Central Excise(No.2) Rules, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘said Rules’) manufacturers’ of excisable goods or any person who deals with excisable goods, with some exceptions, arerequired to get the premises registered with the Central Excise Department beforecommencing business.

2. Persons requiring registration

2.1 In accordance with Rule 9 of the said Rules and Notifications issued under rules 18and 19 of the said Rules, as the case may be, the following category of persons arerequired to register with jurisdictional Central Excise Officer in the Range office havingjurisdiction over his place of business/factory:

(i) Every manufacturer of excisable goods (including Central/StateGovernment undertakings or undertakings owned or controlled byautonomous corporations) on which excise duty is leviable.

(ii) Persons who desire to issue CENVATABLE invoices under the provisions ofthe CENVAT Credit Rules, 2001

(iii) Persons holding private warehouses.

(iv) Persons who obtain excisable goods for availing end-use basedexemption notification.

(v) Exporters manufacturing or processing export goods by using duty paidinputs and intending to claim rebate of such duty or by using inputsreceived without payment of duty and exporting the finished exportgoods.

2.2 Separate registration is required in respect of separate premises except in caseswhere two or more premises are actually part of the same factory (where processes areinterlinked), but are segregated by public road, canal or railway-line. The fact that thetwo premises are part of the same factory will be decided by the Commissioner ofCentral Excise based on factors, such as:

(1) Interlinked process – product manufactured/produced in one premise aresubstantially used in other premises for manufacture of final products.

(2) Large number of raw materials are common and received/proposed to bereceived commonly for both/all the premises

(3) Common electricity supplies.

(4) There is common labour /work force

(5) Common administration/ works management.

(6) Common sales tax registration and assessment

(7) Common Income Tax assessment

(8) Any other factor as may be indicative of inter-linkage of the manufacturingprocesses.

This is neither an exhaustive list of indicators nor each indicator is necessarily in eachcase. The Commissioner has to decide the issued from case to case.

2.3 Separate Registration is required for each depot, godown etc. in respect ofpersons issuing Cenvat invoices. However, in the case liquid and gaseous products,availability of godown should not be insisted upon.

2.4 Registration Certificate may be granted to minors provided they have legalguardians i.e. natural guardians or guardians appointed by the Court, as the casemay be, to conduct business on their behalf.

3. Exemption from Registration

3.1 The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), by Ntf. No. 36/2001-CE(NT) dt.26.6.2001, has exempted specified categories of persons/premises fromobtaining registration, as follows:

(i) Persons who manufacture the excisable goods, which arechargeable to nil rate of excise duty or are fully exempt from duty bya notification.

(ii) Small scale units availing the slab exemption based on value ofclearances under a notification. However, such units will be requiredto give a declaration (Annexure-1) once the value of their clearancestouches Rs.90 lakhs.

(iii) In respect of ready-made garments, the job-worker need not getregistered if the principal manufacturer undertakes to discharge theduty liability.

(iv) Persons manufacturing excisable goods by following the warehousingprocedure under the Customs Act, 1962 subject to the followingconditions:

(a) the said excisable goods and any intermediary or by-productincluding the waste and refuse arising during the process ofmanufacture of the said goods under the Customs Bond are eitherdestroyed or exported out of the country to the satisfaction of theAssistant Commissioner of Customs or the Deputy Commissioner ofCustoms, in-charge of the Customs Bonded Warehouse;

(b) the manufacturer shall file a declaration in the specified formannexed hereto in triplicate for claiming exemption under thisnotification;

(c) no drawback or rebate of duty of excise paid on the raw materialsor components used in the manufacture of the said goods, shallbe admissible.

(v) The person who carries on wholesale trade or deals in excisable goods(except first and second stage dealer, as defined in Cenvat Credit Rules,2001).

(vi) A Hundred per cent Export Oriented Undertaking, or a unit in Free TradeZone or Special Economic Zone licensed or appointed, as the case maybe, under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

(vii) Persons who use excisable goods for any purpose other than forprocessing or manufacture of goods availing benefit of concessional dutyexemption notification.

3.2 The Drugs and Cosmetics Rule 1945 recognises the concept of loan licence in themanufacture of P or P medicines. As a result the system of accepting the said concept isstill prevalent under excise law. In such cases the procedure prescribed underNtf. No.36/2001-CE(NT), dated 26/6/2001 has to be followed. The principalmanufacturer who has under-taken to comply with the procedural formalities will have tomaintain separate accounts in respect of goods manufactured on his own account andgoods manufactured on behalf of the loan licensee. However, the principalmanufacturer has to aggregate the clearances made by him together with clearancesmade on behalf of the loan licensees with regard to eligibility as well as exemption limit.In other words the clearances made on behalf of the loan licensee have to be clubbedwith that of the principal manufacturer (by the manufacturer from one or more factoriesand from the factory by one or more manufacturers).

4. Application for Registration

4.1 Under authority of Section 6 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with rule 9 of thesaid Rules, the CBEC has prescribed the format for Application as well as RegistrationCertificate. The application has to be made to the jurisdictional Central Excise Officer.

4.2 The application for registration should be signed by:

(i) The applicant or by his authorised agent having general power ofattorney. The Range Officer shall have power to call the originaldocuments to verify ‘power of attorney’. Such document shall not beretained by the Range Officer but be returned immediately afterverification.

(ii) In case of unregistered partnership firms, by all partners.

(iii) In case of registered partnerships, by the managing partner or otherpartner so authorised in the Partnership Deed.

4.3 When a manufacturer who is exempt from the registration is required to file adeclaration, the same will be filed with the Assistant Commissioner of the jurisdictionalCentral Excise Division.

5. Fling of Declaration in lieu of registration

5.1 The manufacturers who are exempted from the operation of Rule 9 by virtue ofNtf. No. 36/2001-CE(NT) dt.26/6/2001 have to file a declaration withthe Assistant Commissioner of the respective Divisions. Such declarations received fromthe assessee will have to be filed separately, tariff head-wise in the Divisional office. Thedetails should be entered in the register to be maintained in the Divisional office in theenclosed proforma. Genuine delay in filing the required declaration need not beviewed seriously and the assessee may be allowed to enjoy the exemption from theoperation of Rule 9 as well as from the payment of duty provided the conditionsstipulated in the respective exemption Notifications have been duly fulfilled.

6. Procedure of Issue of Registration Certificate

6.1 Under the section 6 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with rule 9 of the saidRules, the CBEC, by notification, has specified the format for Application as well asRegistration Certificate (Annexure 2 and 3, respectively). The format of application iscommon to manufacturers, private warehouse holders, and registered dealers issuingCENVATABLE invoice and persons who obtain goods by availing end-use basedexemptions, including manufacturers or processors of export goods.

6.2 In the application for Registration, the applicant has to submit ground plan. Underthe Central Excise (No.2) Rules, 2001, there is no stipulation of any specified marked areafor storing the finished goods (traditionally called the ‘bonded store room’). Thus there isno need for marking such area in the ground plan. The only verification that thejurisdictional officers should conduct that the premises mentioned in the application forregistration, are genuine and are intended for the purposes for which the application hasbeen made. Assessee, however, shall be responsible for proper storage and accountalof goods manufactured in his factory at any point of time.

6.3 The verification shall be made by the Inspector or Superintendent of CentralExcise having jurisdiction over the premises (Range Officer) in respect of which theapplicant has sought registration, within 5 working days of the receipt of application. Asper the rules/notification, the registration certificate shall be issued within 7 working days.The Range Officer (Superintendent) either himself or through the Sector Officer(Inspector) shall verify whether the declared address and operations (intended) aregenuine and the declarations made in the application are correct. If found in order, hewill endorse the correctness of the same and append his dated signature on the officecopies of the Registration application and the copy of the application with the registrant.If any deviations or variations are noticed during the verification, the same should be gotcorrected. Any major discrepancy, such as fake address, non-existence of any factoryetc. shall be reported in writing to the Divisional Officer within 3 working days and theRange Officer shall initiate action to safeguard revenue.

7. Issue of Registration Certificate.

7.1 All Registrations of each type should be numbered in a single series for the Rangeas a whole , commencing with serial no. 1 for each calendar year . The issuing authorityshould make every effort to complete all formalities and grant the Registration Certificatewithin 7 days of receipt of application in his office. Every Registration Certificate granted/ issued by the registering authority shall be under his signature. He should alsocountersign the ground plan accompanying the Registration Certificate. TheRegistration Certificate and the duplicate copy of the plan should be returned to theregistered person who shall exhibit his Registration Certificate or a certified copy thereofin a conspicuous part of the registered premises. The Registering authority in apermanent file shall keep the application as well as the ground plan.

7.2 In case of partnership firms, the Registration Certificate which is granted in thename of the said firm [which is registered or not under the Partnership Act] shall containthe names of all the partners.

7.3 The Registration Certificate or a certified copy thereof is required to be exhibitedin a conspicuous part of the registered premises.

8. Period of Validity of Registration

8.1 Once Registration Certificate is granted, it has a permanent status unless it issuspended or revoked by the appropriate authority in accordance with law or issurrendered by the person or company concerned. If the person who applies forRegistration with the department is an individual, then the Certificate would cease to bevalid in the event of the death of the said individual. Any other person(s) who wish(es) tocontinue with the operations for which the deceased person was registered, he wouldthen have to apply afresh. (See Ntf. No. 35/2001-CE(N.T.), dated 26th June, 2001.).

8.2 In the case of limited company, death of a director would not affect the status ofRegistration, since Registration is issued to the body corporate recognizing the same as alegal person. In the case of partnership firms also normally no difficulty would arise withregard to succession, since the surviving partners will continue either in the same name orwith the change of name the business. However, in the case of proprietary businesswhen the proprietor dies, the successor in estate has to apply for a fresh Registration.Ordinarily fresh Registration would be issued to the person who happens to be in theactual possession of the business. However, grant of fresh Registration to the successor inestate shall not be regarded that the Government has accepted the said person as thelegal successor/heir to the deceased.

9. Surrender, Cancellation, Suspension or Revocation of Registration

9.1 Registration Certificate may be surrendered as per application in prescribed formin Ntf. No. 35/2001-CE(N.T.), dated 26.6.2001 (Annexure-4). This is subject tocompliance of the statutory obligations under the excise law, particularly the payment ofall dues to the Government including the duty on finished excisable goods lying in thefactory/warehouse. In case of mis-declaration regarding compliance, the surrender ofregistration shall not be valid.

9.2 Registration Certificate may be cancelled by the Registering authority when theregistered person voluntarily surrenders the Certificate due to closure of business.

9.3 As per rule 17 of the said Rules Registration Certificate may be revoked orsuspended by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, if the holder or anyperson under his employ has committed a breach of any condition of the Central ExcisesAct or the rules made thereunder or has been convicted of an offence under Section161 read with Section 109 or Section 116 of the Indian Penal Code [45 of 1860].

9.4 Suspension or revocation of the Registration is a heavy punishment since itamounts to suspending or stopping the business and could result in grave damage tothe person concerned. Hence this penalty should be resorted to only in cases wherethere is persistent misdemeanor involving serious loss of revenue.

10.4 Though technically, a Registration Certificate can be suspended or revoked bythe issuing authority, the power to revoke or suspend the Registration is vested only withthe Deputy/Assistant Commissioner. In case of suspension or revocation, the RangeOfficer should refer the matter to the Deputy/Assistant commissioner who will passappropriate orders after affording a reasonable opportunity. Appeal against this order lies with the Commissioner[Appeals] and this should be specifically spelt out in the order -in-original of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner(Preamble).

10. Lost Registration Certificates

10.1 When a Registration Certificate is reported to be lost, the registered person shallsubmit a written application to the Range Officer for issuing a DUPLICATE REGISTRATIONCERTIFICATE. The same shall be issued after making necessary entries in the record or logsin the computer data.

An importer who intends to issue invoice under Cenvat Credit Rules, 2001, willhave to Register himself in the manner specified earlier.

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