Grant of reward to informers and Government servants – Review of Policy, Procedure and Guidelines – regarding. - Customs - F. No. R-13011/6/2001-Cus(AS)

F. No. R-13011/6/2001-Cus(AS) Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Dated: 16th April, 2004 Subject: Grant of reward to informers and Government servants Review of Policy, Procedure and Guidelines regarding. Madam/Sir, I am directed to refer to Ministry s letter of even number dated the 20th June, 2001 on the above subject and to state that the policy/procedure/guidelines in respect of grant of reward to informers and Government servants contained in the said latter stand modified to the extent indicated below : - (i) Para 2.1 of the letter mentioned above relating to scope of the reward guidelines shall read as under: - These guidelines will be applicable for grant of rewards to the informers and Govt. servants in respect of cases of services made and/or infringements/ evasion of duty/tax etc. detected under the provisions of the following Act : 1. The Customs Act, 1952 2. The Central Excise Act, 1944 3. Narcotic Drugs and psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 4. Finance Act, 1994 as amended to the extent the said Act contains provisions relating to Service Tax . (ii) Para 4.4 of the above said letter relating to quantum and ceiling of rewards shall read as under: - Govt. servants will be eligible for sanction/payment of total reward not exceeding Rs. 15 (fifteen) lakhs during their entire career. As regards reward in a single case, an individual officer should not be sanctioned a total reward (advance reward and final reward put together) exceeding Rs 1 lakh. However, in exceptional cases, reward in excess of this limit i.e. above Rs. 2 lakh can be sanctioned to an individual officer, in the Board, on the recommendations of the Reward Section for which proposals may be sent to the Ministry, through DGRI or DGCEI, as the case may be. (iii) Para 8 relating to delegation of powers for sanction/payment of reward shall read as under : The monetary limits for sanction of rewards to informers and Govt. servants arwze given below : - 8.1 TO INFORMERS Monetary Limit Reward Sanctioning Authority Upto Rs. 5 lakhs Jurisdictional Head of Department, i.e. Commissioner of Customs and/or Central Excise /Addl. Director General, DRI/Addl. Director General, DGCEI Above Rs. 5 lakhs upto Rs. 10 lakhs A Committee Comprising : (i) Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs and/or Central Excise/ADG, DRI/ADG, DGCEI (ii) One of Jurisdictional Addl. Commissioner/Director of Senior most Jt. Commissioner/Director of the Commissionerate or the DRI/DGCEI as the case may be, and (iii) An officer of equivalent rank, outside the Commissionerate/Directorate i.e. Addl. or Jt. Commissioner of Customs Central Excise of another local Commissionerate/Nearest Jt. Director(DRI) or Jt. Director (CEI) or Jt. Director (DOL) nominated by Jurisdictional Commissioner/ADG, DRI, ADG, CEI. Above Rs. 10 lakhs upto Rs. 20 lakhs A Committee comprising : (i) Jurisdictional Chief Commissioner/DGRI/DCCEI (ii) Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs and/or Central Excise/ADG, DRI/ADG, DGCEL, and (iii) Commissioner (Logistics) or any other Commissioner rank officer, nominated by the Chief Commissioner/DGRI/DGCEI. Above Rs 20 lakhs (other than Service Tax Cases) A Committee comprising : (i) Jurisdictional Chief Commissioner, (ii) Director General (Revenue Intelligence) and (iii) Director General (CEI) Above Rs 20 lakhs (Service Tax cases) A Committee comprising: (i) Jurisdictional Chief Commissioner, (ii) Director General (Service Tax) (iii) Director General CEI). 8.2 TO GOVT. SERVANTS Monetary Limit Reward Sanctioning Authority Upto Rs. 5,000/- Jurisdictional Addl. Commissioner/Jt. Commissioner of Customs Central Excise/Addl./Joint director of DRI/CEI Above Rs. 5,000 7 upto Rs. 10,000 Jurisdictional Head of the Department i.e. Commissioner of Customs and/or Central Excise/ADG, DRI/ADG, CEI. Above Rs. 10,000/- 7 upto Rs. 50,000/- A committee comprising: (i) Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs and/or Central Excise/Addl. Director General (DRI)/Addl. Director General (CEI). (ii) Jurisdictional Addl./Joint Commissioner of Customs Central Excise/Addl./Jt. Director (DRI)/Addl./Jt. Director (CEI) (iii) An outside Addl./Jt. Commissioner /Addl./Jt. Director(DRI)/Addl./Jt. Director(CEI), nominated by Jurisdictional Commissioner in consultation with concerned Commissioner/DG/ADG. Above Rs. 50,000/- but less than Rs. 1 lakh A Committee comprising : (i) Jurisdictional Chief Commissioner/DGRI/DGCEI, (ii) Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs and/or Central Excise/ADG, DRI/ADG, CEI and (iii) Commissioner (Logistics) or any other Commissioner of Customs/Central Excise, nominated by the Chief Commissioner/DGRI/DGCEI. (iv) By virtue of the amendment of para 2.1 the reward scheme is extended to the cases of detection of Service Tax evasion. The reward claims to Informers and Govt. Servants in respect of Service Tax cases shall be processed and decided in the same manner as those of Central Excise cases. Accordingly, in the aforementioned letter wherever the word "duty" occurs the same shall be read as "duty/Service Tax". Please acknowledge receipt of this letter Your Faithfully, (Nasim Arshi) Under Secretary to the Govt. of india Telefax: 23093021