Judicial information access: online publication of appellate orders and admitted civil appeals, replacing monthly paper circulations.
A dedicated Judicial Cell page on the departmental website will publish appellate information-civil appeals, special leave petitions and tribunal orders appealed against-will be updated retrospectively to early 1999 and prospectively, and summaries of key higher court decisions will be posted; monthly hard copy mailings of such lists are discontinued.

Classification of cigarette paper: logo printing during continuous manufacture does not create a new product.
Printing a brand name or logo on cigarette paper during a continuous process that receives paper in bobbins and prints, stuffs and cuts in one machine does not change the paper's name, character or use; the paper therefore retains its specific tariff classification as cigarette paper rather than being treated as printed or surface-decorated paper.

Proforma for government-PSU litigation: revised submission required for High Power Committee clearance with prescribed enclosures and approval.
Public Sector Undertakings must obtain clearance from the High Power Committee before pursuing litigation against Government Departments by submitting a revised proforma with prescribed enclosures (Order-in-Original, Order-in-Appeal, Memorandum of Appeal, etc.) to Member (L&J) immediately after filing an appeal. References must conform to the annexed proforma, state reasons for deferred cases if applicable, and carry approval of the Secretary for Ministries/Departments or the Chief Executive Officer for Central Government PSUs.

Excise Audit framework: standardized assessee profiles, time-bound audits, computerized working papers and scoring for quality oversight.
Excise Audit-2000 requires standardized collection of an Assessee Profile and financial ratios for desk review, use of a prescribed Audit Report format with computerized Working Papers, time-bound completion of audits within 20-25 days, involvement of cost specialists for large units, training in accountancy, provision of computers to audit branches, and a quantitative scoring system plus monitoring cells to evaluate and improve audit quality.

Settlement application fee payment: bank assignment codes now enable challan acceptance and PAO authentication for processing.
Payment for Settlement Commission applications must be made using a triplicate TR 6 challan evidencing the prescribed application fee and per page copy fees; bank acceptance required assignment codes. Specific bank assignment codes have been allotted to Pay and Accounts Offices for use on challans at designated bank branches to permit acceptance and accounting, and departmental officers are to authenticate challans when applicants request assistance.

Pre-Budget and Budget removal controls require advance stock declarations and supervised clearances under excise rules.
Restrictions under rules 173G(2), 223B and 224 restrict removals of excisable goods after the evening before Budget Day and after the appointed time on Budget Day, apply to all assessees including those under the Self Removal Procedure, and require advance clearance applications, last-invoice and closing-stock declarations to the Range Superintendent and proper officer. Commissioners may grant limited provisional relaxations for specified situations (intra-factory transfers, continuous-despatch industries, pipeline/refuelling consignments, perishable or essential-service goods, and exports) subject to bonafides, immediate reporting to the Ministry and ex post approval.

Exemption scope clarified: parts classified outside Chapter 86 used in manufacture of goods under headings 86.01-86.06 qualify for excise exemption.
The excise exemption for parts used within the factory to manufacture goods under headings 86.01-86.06 covers parts classified under any Chapter, not only Chapter 86, provided other conditions of the relevant notifications are met; classification of Chapter 86 goods is still governed by Section XVII notes (2) and (3).

Assessable value: include money value of notional interest on interest free deposits when determining excise value.
Where additional consideration from the buyer exists - such as notional interest on interest free deposits - its money value is an element of the assessable value; under the valuation rules the additional consideration must be incorporated into the cum duty price and the assessable value determined by working backwards so that duty attributable to that additional consideration is also reflected.

Rebate determination: rebate equals duty actually paid based on payment-day exchange rate and cannot be re-quantified later.
Rebate for exports priced in foreign currency must follow the AR-4 value determined under section 4 and duty paid at the market exchange rate prevailing when duty was paid; the rebate authority must allow rebate equal to the duty actually paid and must not re-quantify using a subsequent exchange rate. If overpayment is suspected, the rebate authority shall notify the jurisdictional Assistant/Deputy Commissioner for Range officer scrutiny. Differential duties paid before rebate sanction entitle the exporter to rebate of the full duty paid, excluding fines or penalties.

Small scale exemption: receipt of raw material with an existing house mark does not bar exemption if processor does not affix a trade name.
Exemption for small scale industry under the Exemption Notification is available when the SSI unit receives raw material already bearing a third party house mark and the unit does not affix any trade name; in such circumstances para 7 of the Notification is not attracted and the exemption cannot be denied.

Export rebate entitlement: merchant-exporters may claim excise rebate for non-alloy steel products subject to manufacturer disclaimer and proper factory documentation.
Merchant-exporters may claim rebate of central excise duty on ingots, billets and hot re-rolled non-alloy steel by filing with the Assistant Deputy Commissioner having jurisdiction over the manufacturing factory, provided the manufacturer issues a disclaimer certificate; the AR-4 must be generated at the factory and signed by both manufacturer and merchant-exporter.

Tariff value applicability: qualifying small low-priced pan masala packs receive MRP-based lower assessment, not higher tariff valuation.
Where a pan masala retail pack satisfies both the pack-size condition and the maximum retail price ceiling specified in the concessional notification, the pack is entitled to assessment at the lower MRP-based assessable value and must not be assessed at a higher tariff value fixed under the tariff-value notification.

Central Excise computerisation deadline extended; commissionerates must prioritise RT-12 data capture for electronic reporting.
The Board revised the electronic reporting start date from January to April 2000 because RT-12 data quality, though improved, remained below the required 90% threshold; Commissionerates are directed to prioritise capturing complete and timely RT-12 data for all assessees and to inform field formations so the revised timetable can be met.

Excise Control Code based on PAN: implementation delayed, commencement deferred to next month; trade and field formations notified to acknowledge.
Extension of the rollout date for the Excise Control Code (ECC) based on Permanent Account Number (PAN) is announced: the Government has modified the earlier instruction adopting the PAN-based ECC by deferring its commencement and postponing the administrative switch to PAN-linked ECC identifiers for excise registrants; trade stakeholders and field formations are to be informed and to acknowledge receipt.

Export warehousing eligibility: automobile manufacturers with a signed MoU now qualify under the notification, follow prescribed procedure.
Automobile manufacturers who have executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the relevant foreign trade authority are designated as eligible exporters for export warehousing under the controlling notification, and the procedural mechanism set out in the Board's earlier circular must be followed for implementation, with trade and field formations informed and receipt acknowledged.