Customs duty exemption for LNG imports extended to specified public undertakings subject to conditional supply to power generators.
Notifications dated 8-5-2013 amend excise and customs schedules to implement targeted excise duty reductions and exemptions (including jaggery powder, bamboo products, clay bricks, particle/fibre board and conditional steel supply to shipyards) and to modify basic customs duty and exemptions (including LNG/NG exemption for specified PSUs subject to conditions, increased duties on titanium dioxide and certain polymers, imposition of duty on metal scraps, and withdrawal of special CVD exemption on brass scrap).

Appeal form revisions require expanded appellant identifiers and a standardized alphanumeric order code to improve case processing.
Revised Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax appeal forms, effective 1 June 2013 (old forms permitted until 31 August 2013), require expanded appellant identifiers (Assessee Code/PAN/UID, Location Code, contact details), Customs-specific IEC and Port Code, Service Tax Premises Code, separate entries for duty/fine/penalty/interest, subject codes for bunching, and a mandatory 21-character alphanumeric order identifier encoding Commissionerate, officer type, serial number, financial year and order date for Commissionerate wise indexing.

Area-based exemption eligibility requires merged adjoining plots to form one unit; separate distant plots constitute independent units.
Defines "adjacent" for area-based exemption as a plot sharing at least one common boundary that is merged with the existing plot to form one unit; such merged expansions continue to enjoy the residual exemption period. Use of a plot not immediately adjoining the existing plot is treated as establishing a separate unit, with exemption eligibility assessed independently.

Office opening requirement to ensure year-end revenue collections; offices must remain open and notify trade.
Directive requiring offices to remain open on specified year end days as a special measure to secure month end revenue collections and to issue trade notices; the Department also proposed extended or half day bank hours on certain holidays and the year end weekend to align banking availability with revenue collection needs.

Customs and excise duty changes under Finance Bill broaden advance ruling scope and impose procedural and enforcement reforms.
The circular implements Finance Bill, 2013 tariff and procedural changes effective from 28 February/1 March 2013 (with select measures provisional under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931), setting out chapter-wise Customs and Central Excise duty rate adjustments, tariff reclassifications, targeted exemptions and technical rectifications, plus procedural clarifications on baggage allowances, time-limits for consumption/installation, and concession continuations. It also summarises legislative amendments expanding advance ruling scope, raising thresholds and non-bailable offence categories, limiting Tribunal stay relief to 365 days, and other enforcement and electronic filing reforms.

Tax payment deadline for central excise and service tax requires timely deposit to avoid interest and penalty.
Payment of Central Excise duty and Service Tax for March must be made on or before the last day of the month under the applicable rules; assesses must deposit dues within the prescribed time limit despite intervening public holidays, and failure to pay in time will attract interest and penalty, with Trade Associations and Chambers requested to inform their members.

Direct bank payment of rebate/refund requires one time authorization and enables NEFT/RTGS credit to claimant bank accounts.
Facility enabling direct payment of rebate and refund amounts to claimant bank accounts replaces cheque issuance; claimants must provide one time authorization, retained by the Refund/Rebate section. Assistant/Deputy Commissioner forwards a signed consolidated statement and cheque to the bank, which credits individual accounts via NEFT/RTGS subject to applicable charges and bank certification of account details.

Job work removals: procedural conditions require serialised movement documents, sender accounting responsibility, and time bound return obligations.
Removal of inputs or partially processed inputs to a job worker is allowed under Rule 16A subject to conditions prescribed by the Commissioner. Goods must be moved under a duplicate printed document with running serial numbers, signed by the sender, and containing the sender's registration and registering Range/Division/Commissionerate and a description, quantity and value. The sender remains responsible for accounting and must ensure goods return within six months or pay duty with interest. The job worker must acknowledge receipt, may return goods duty free after endorsement or clear for home consumption on payment, and both parties must maintain simple receipt/dispatch accounts.

Job work removals: inputs may be sent to job workers under prescribed challan procedure; duty arises if not returned within the prescribed period.
Rule 16A allows removal of inputs to a job worker under a duplicate printed challan signed by the sender; the document must record sender registration details, registering Range/Division/Commissionerate, goods description, quantity and value, dispatch date, and job worker particulars, with accountability remaining with the sender. The job worker must acknowledge receipt. Goods must be returned within the prescribed period or the sender must pay duty with interest thereafter. After processing, goods may be returned without duty or cleared for home consumption/export under Cenvat procedures. Simple accounts must be maintained; 100% EOUs are excluded and the Commissioner may vary conditions.

Administrative control reallocation of EOUs, EHTP and STPs shifts operational oversight to local Central Excise ranges for compliance.
All administrative matters relating to 100% EOUs/EHTP/STPs, Customs Bonded Warehouses and related Customs work in Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts are transferred from the Service Tax & EOU Division to the jurisdictional Central Excise Ranges and Divisions effective 1 February 2013; Location Code 840505 is abolished, the Service Tax & EOU Division is renamed Mysore Service Tax Division, Nanjangud and Thandavapura Range move under Mysore-III Central Excise Division, and an annexure lists the reassigned units and their new ranges and location codes.

Transfers and postings ordered in Commissioner grade, immediate relief and joining deadlines with compliance reporting requirement to Board.
An Office Order directs transfers and postings of officers in the grade of Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, listing individual reassignments effective immediately and until further orders. The order mandates immediate relieving and joining at new stations by the stipulated deadline, prohibits representations before joining, and requires Chief Commissioners/Director Generals to submit compliance reports on relieving and joining to the Board with a copy to the DG, HRD.

Recovery of confirmed demand: directions permit recovery despite appeals unless a stay is granted, with specified timelines.
The circular rescinds prior instructions and sets a uniform scheme for initiating recovery of confirmed excise demands by reference to appeal stage and stay status: recovery after statutory appeal periods when no appeal is filed; recovery on filing of appeals without stay in specified forums; recovery 30 days after filing where a stay application accompanies the appeal if no stay is granted or upon disposal of the stay petition in accordance with stay conditions; immediate recovery where appellate or court orders confirm demand and no stay operates. Prior contrary guidance is superseded.