CHAPTER 12
Special Procedure for Specified Goods
PART V
MATCHES1. Introduction
1.1 The Board has issued Notification No.
50/2001-CE(N.T.) dated28.6.2001 whereby under Rule 14 of the
Central Excise (No.2) Rules, 2001 (hereinafterreferred to as the ‘said Rules’), procedure for procurement, accounting and disposal ofCentral Excise Stamps and matters pertaining to production, storage, control, removaland payment of duty on matches have been notified.
1.2 The payment of duty on the matches shall be by way of affixing the said stampson the goods.
2. Procurement of Central Excise Stamps
2.1 Procedure for procurement of central excise stamps is, as follows:
(a) All Central Excise Stamps shall be procured from a district RevenueTreasury or Sub-Treasury.
(b)
(i) A registered person wishing to obtain Central Excise Stamps for cashshall submit to the treasury a challan in quintuplicate for the amount to bepaid, specifying on the reverse the number and class of Central ExciseStamps required, together with their price. The treasury shall accept theamount specified in the challan and shall return the duplicate, triplicateand quintuplicate copies of the receipted challan to the registeredperson.
(ii) The registered person shall present duplicate and quintuplicate copiesof the challan to the Inspector or Superintendent in-charge of the factorywho, after satisfying himself about the correctness of the amount remitted,shall return the quintuplicate copy to the assessee with an endorsementto the District Revenue Treasury Officer or Sub-Treasury Officer to issue theappropriate number of Central Excise Stamps. The registered person shallpresent quintuplicate copy with such endorsement to the District RevenueTreasury Officer or Sub-Treasury Officer, who shall thereafter supply theCentral Excise Stamps to the registered person.
(c) A registered person wishing to obtain Central Excise Stamps on creditshall execute a bond in the Form specified in (Annexure 31) with such suretyor sufficient security as the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of CentralExcise may require.
(d) When the provisions of sub-paragraph (c) have been complied with, theDeputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise shall, after due inquiry,authorise the issue of Central Excise Stamps on credit to the registeredperson and shall communicate the same to the District Revenue TreasuryOfficer or Sub-Treasury Officer concerned and to the Superintendent incharge of the factory with full particulars of bond executed and theextent of credit granted. The number of Central Excise Stamps to besupplied at a time shall not exceed the average out-turn of the factory fora number of days, not exceeding thirty to be fixed by theDeputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise. However, the total priceof the unused stamps in balance with the registered person and of thoseindented shall not be more than the security furnished.
(e) A registered person authorised to obtain Central Excise Stamps on creditshall for each supply submit to the Superintendent in charge of the factorya requisition in quadruplicate in the Form annexed as (Annexure 32). Ifsatisfied that the details stated in the requisition are correct the saidofficer shall retain the triplicate for his own record and send the original,duplicate and quadruplicate to the District Revenue Treasury Officer orSub- Treasury Officer concerned, who shall retain the original in his office,issue the number of Central Excise Stamps required, return the duplicate,duly endorsed to the said officer and send the quadruplicate copy to theChief Accounts Officer of the Commissionerate.
3. Safety of stamps
3.1 The manufacturer shall keep all his Central Excise Stamps, whether procured for cashor on credit, in a secure place within the factory premises, and shall keep them open forinspection at any time by any officer.
3.2 The inspector or Superintendent in charge of the factory may at any time examinethe stock of the Central Excise Stamps on any working day and check the balance withthat shown in the register and shall record the result in the register. If any Central ExciseStamps procured on credit are missing or unaccounted for, he shall call on the registeredperson to pay immediately into the Treasury the full price thereof and to produce thetreasury challan within a week.
4. Account of Central Excise Stamps purchased and used
4.1 The manufacturer shall maintain an account of quantity and value of-
(i) Central Excise Stamps purchased for cash and on credit;
(ii) Central Excise Stamps affixed on boxes or booklets;
(iii) Central Excise Stamps damaged and handed over to theInspector or Superintendent in charge of the factory; and
(iv) Central Excise Stamps lost in the process or not otherwiseaccounted for.
4.2 The manufacturer shall submit to the Superintendent incharge of the factorymonthly return in the Form annexed as
(Annexure 33) before the tenth day of the monthfollowing that to which the return relates.
5. Time and manner of affixing Central Excise Stamps
5.1 As soon as possible, after matches are finished, they shall, unless intended forexport, be put into boxes or booklets which shall then, save as otherwise provided bythese procedures, be affixed with Central Excise Stamps and enclosed in packets orother outer coverings as the case may be.
5.2 Every Central Excise Stamp shall be so affixed that –
(i) the box or booklet on which the Central Excise Stamp is affixed can notbe opened without tearing the Central Excise Stamp;
(ii) when it is affixed to a box, the Central Excise Stamp shall cover one sideof the inner tray and a part of the rear or bottom or front or top of theouter box, and the Central Excise Stamp itself shall not be covered byeither the factory’s label or any advertisement label;
5.3 Where the matches are intended for export out of India, the Central ExciseStamps need not be affixed thereto and, unless they are to be exported withoutpayment of duty in accordance with rule 19 of the said Rules, the duty shall be paid bythe assessee before removal of each consignment by debit to the account currentmaintained by him.
5.4 Where the Board is satisfied that by reason of the fact that the necessary CentralExcise Stamps are not available or for any other relevant reason it is necessary orexpedient so to do, it may, by general or special order, allow the duty on matches to bepaid, without affixing Central Excise Stamps to such box or booklet, by debit to theaccount current before the removal of each consignment subject to any conditionwhich may be imposed in the order.
6. Method of packing
6.1 No packet or case containing boxes or booklets of matches, other than thoseintended for export out of India and those to which the provisions of the paragraph 4(c)above apply, shall be closed and reckoned as a unit unless a Central Excise Stamp ofthe appropriate class has been affixed to each box or booklet in the specified manner.
6.2 Each case or packet shall contain only an integral number whether one hundredboxes or booklets of matches or multiples thereof. The boxes or booklets in each case orpacket shall contain the same number of matches on the average and shall, exceptwhere the matches are exempted from bearing Central Excise Stamps, bear CentralExcise Stamps of the same class.
6.3 Every packet, box or booklet, or the manufacturers label affixed thereto shallbear in clearly discernable characters, the name of the factory or a distinguishing mark,which may take the form of a special design whereby the origin of the matches can betraced. Specimens of all such labels shall be submitted to the Superintendent in-chargeof the factory duly declaring the ownership of the label before that are brought into use.In case, the label is owned by some other manufacturer, a consent letter from the ownerof the label duly declaring the rate of duty applicable to him, should also be filed.
6.4 Each case or packet of matches shall be legibly marked in ink or oil colour withprogressive number, commencing with number 1, for each year and in different series foreach class of matches, the number of boxes or booklets in hundreds contained in eachcase or packet and the grade of Central Excise Stamps affixed thereto.
6.5 Every box or booklet of matches, issued for home consumption, shall have on thebox or booklet, or on the manufacturers label affixed thereto, a statement in clearlydiscernable character of the sticks contained in the box or booklet, and of the retailprice at which the manufacturer intends that the box or booklet should be sold.However, the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise may, by an order inwriting and subject to such limitations and conditions, as may be prescribed by him in theorder, relax this requirement.
7. Disposal of matches and of damaged Central Excise Stamps
7.1 If any Central Excise Stamps are torn during examination or inspection taken upby the Inspector or Superintendent of Central Excise, the said officer may order that thecontainers to which they are affixed shall be returned to the registered person for re-stampingand shall be replaced immediately by an equal number of boxes or bookletsof the same class from the finished stock.
7.2 If examination or inspection by the Inspector or Superintendent of Central Exciseshows that Central Excise Stamps of insufficient value have been affixed, the said officermay order the boxes or booklets in question to be returned to the factory, where theCentral Excise Stamps shall be removed and replaced by others of the proper value.
8. Marking of Matches intended for export
8.1 All boxes or booklets containing matches intended for export and on which noCentral Excise Stamps have been affixed, shall be packed into cases or packets onwhich shall be pasted labels inscribed “ Matches not affixed with Central Excise Stampsfor Export” and shall be entered in daily stock account maintained under rule 10 of thesaid Rules.
9. Removal of matches bearing Central Excise Stamps purchased on credit
9.1 When it is desired to remove matches bearing Central Excise Stamps purchasedon credit, the registered person shall, unless he maintains an account current with theCommissioner, pay the price of the Central Excise Stamps and no such matches may beremoved until after the price of the Central Excise Stamps has been so paid or has beendebited to such account current, if any.
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