The country’s indirect tax policy-making body, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), may be left with just a Chairman and one member if key appointments are not announced by February 28.

This comes at a time when the financial year is drawing to a close and the Government is busy mopping up resources to plan its Budget for the next year. To ensure that the Budget target is achieved, the Prime Minister himself is closely monitoring tax collection efforts.

According to the rules, the CBEC comprises a Chairman and five members (this can go up to six). The board currently has a Chairman and two members.

Chairman Kaushal Srivastava is also member (Budget), while member (Central Excise) Shashi Bhushan Singh holds additional charge of Customs and Service Tax. Similarly, the other Member (Personnel and Vigilance), Joy Kumari Chander, has additional charge of Law & Justice.

Singh is scheduled to retire in February end, while Chander and Srivastava will attain the age of 60 in May and July, respectively, leaving little time to complete the selection process and appoint members. A Chairman is nominated from among the members.

Operations affected

Officials in the know told BusinessLine that there is no information on the appointments yet, adding that this is affecting the CBEC’s overall functioning.

The rules state that a Central Government officer with a residual service of not less than one year and having at least 15 years experience in administering and running the indirect tax administration at the Centre, with at least 10 years experience in the field formations of CBEC, can be appointed as a member.

Najib Shah, Director General of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), is still awaiting his appointment as a member of the CBEC. Shah, considered an efficient official, has already been empanelled for appointment as member along with some others. But, following objections raised on the ‘others’, the entire appointment process has been put on hold.

The CBEC deals with the formulation of policy on levy and collection of customs and central excise duties and service tax, prevention of smuggling, and administration of matters relating to customs, central excise, service tax and narcotics.

As of now, indirect tax collection is way behind the Budget estimate. Against the target of over ₹6.23 lakh crore for the full fiscal year, actual collection during the first 11 months (April-January) is ₹4.28 crore, a growth rate of just 7.4 per cent against the Budget target of 25.8 per cent.

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