Appointment of Adjudicating Authority designates DGGI Adjudication officer to adjudicate specified show cause notices against company units.
In exercise of powers under rule 3(1) Central Excise Rules, 2017 read with clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 CGST Act, 2017, the CBIC appoints the Pr. Additional Director General/Additional Director General (Adjudication), DGGI, New Delhi as the Central Excise officer to adjudicate the show cause notices listed in the Table relating to Units 1, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of M/s Vishnu Pouch Packaging Pvt. Ltd., each SCN being answerable to the Commissioner (CGST & CX), Ahmedabad North.

Book adjustment payment of service tax - reconcile liability and accept CGA certified entries to avoid re demand and litigation.
Adjudicating authorities should not insist on re payment where the only dispute is mode of payment; they must focus on reconciling tax liability with payments made by book adjustment, require reconciliation statements and supporting payment proof in the appropriate head/account, and may accept a certificate from the Office of the Controller General of Accounts confirming the entries, with pending legacy adjudications to be disposed of expeditiously.

Agreeing to obligation to refrain from an act: service taxable where a specific agreement exists with consideration.
Leviability of service tax under clause (e) of section 66E depends on a contractual agreement where one party agrees to refrain from, tolerate, or do an act and the other party provides consideration; the arrangement must be independent and there must be a necessary and sufficient nexus between the agreed obligation and the consideration for the service to be taxable.

Document Identification Number (DIN) required on specified CBIC communications; exceptions allowed with written reasons and post-facto regularisation.
CBIC mandates electronic generation and prominent quoting of a Document Identification Number (DIN) on search authorizations, summons, arrest memos, inspection notices and enquiry letters from 8 November 2019 via the DDM portal; unauthorized communications without DIN (unless explained and later regularized within 15 working days) are invalid. Limited exceptions for technical or urgent field exigencies require written reasons and post-facto approval, after which the DIN must be electronically generated, printed and filed. Users are mapped, authenticated by OTP, use a dashboard to generate non-editable DINs, and recipients may verify DINs on the CBIC website.

Reversal of Cenvat credit may not be required for certain services unless dual input restrictions apply.
Reversal of Cenvat credit is required only where the twin conditions of restrictions on both inputs and input services are met; services listed in the notification do not automatically become exempted services. For service activity involving supply of food or drink, valuation restrictions under the Service Tax determination rules apply and no further reversal under the Cenvat Credit Rules is required beyond those valuation restrictions.

Access to road or bridge service remains non-taxable despite third-party payment for tolls during the demonetisation period.
Access to a road or bridge on payment of toll charges is in the Negative List and not taxable. The service remained the same throughout the period 8-11-2016 to 1-12-2016; payment by the project authority instead of the user did not change the service. A declared service under section 66E does not override the Negative List to make such a service taxable.

Exemption for multilateral development and international financial institution services affirmed for indirect taxes, excluding agents or appointees.
Exemption from indirect taxation is affirmed for services provided directly by specified multilateral development and international financial institutions under their constitutive Acts, and that exemption under GST does not extend to entities appointed by or acting on behalf of those institutions; the GST clarification applies mutatis mutandis to Service Tax.

Public health exemption covers ambulance services to government under the National Health Mission, clarifying service tax treatment.
Provision of ambulance services to State Governments under the National Health Mission by private service providers was clarified as a service provided to Government by way of public health, falling within the exemption under Notification No. 25/2012-Service Tax. The Trade Notice was issued to communicate this clarification to the trade, field formations, officers, assessees, and industry associations.

Access to registered premises authorized for inspection of books and electronic records; prior or ex post intimation required.
Authorization permits Additional/Joint Commissioners and Deputy/Assistant Commissioners to allow subordinate officers up to Inspector to access any registered business premises to inspect books, documents, computers, programs, software and other items for audit, scrutiny, verification, investigation and checks; each visit requires prior or ex post facto intimation to the Commissioner and maintenance of proper records of permissions and visits.

Public health exemption: ambulance services supplied to government under NHM are exempt from service tax.
Where private service providers receive consideration from State governments for providing ambulance services under the National Health Mission, those services constitute services provided to Government by way of public health and are exempt from service tax under notification no. 25/2012-Service Tax.

Place of provision of services: software development and related services are treated as supplied at the recipient's location.
Software services for development, design and programming, and for testing, debugging, modification, customisation, adaptation, upgradation, enhancement and implementation, are to be treated as provided at the location of the recipient. Software's intangible and often virtualised nature, and the recipient's exclusive control over access granted to the provider, support applying the Place of Provision of Services Rules to locate these services at the recipient's location.

Retrospective service tax exemptions announced converting certain pre transition liabilities and exempting specified government services.
Targeted service tax exemptions and retrospective adjustments announced in the Union Budget 2018 convert certain import integrated tax liabilities to integrated tax payments for cross border leased aircraft and exempt specified government linked services (naval group life insurance to Coast Guard personnel, GSTN services to governments, and the Government's share of profit petroleum as consideration for petroleum exploration/lease services) for defined pre transition periods; these measures take effect on enactment of the Finance Bill, 2018.

Re-assignment of pending central excise and service tax appeals to designated officers for disposal and reconciliation of pendency.
The CBEC ordered re-assignment of appeals filed on or before 30.06.2017 under Section 35 (Central Excise Act, 1944) and Section 85 (Finance Act, 1994) to specified Central Excise officers for disposal; the Trade Notice reproduces annexures listing appeal numbers, assessees, registration numbers and the officers/commissioners (with stations) to whom each appeal is allotted, and asks Commissioners and trade bodies to notify officers and appellants and to consult the Chief Commissioner Chennai website for full details.

Defense coordination for GST writs ensures centralized authorisations and policy-led responses, plus affidavits and appeal preparation.
Master Instruction mandates centralized defence of GST-related writs through Nodal Cells and assignment of a Unique Index Number, authorisation by Commissioner (Legal)/Commissioner (DLA) to defend the Union and central respondents, structured solicitation of focused policy comments from designated departmental Wings, coordination with States and defence of the GST Council, provision of timely assistance to Government Counsel, filing of additional affidavits to reflect GST Council decisions, and preparation of proposals for appeals against High Court orders staying GST collection.

Reassignment of pending appeals: expanded central excise officer powers to pass orders in appeal and redistribute caseload.
Reassignment redistributes appeals pending as on the cutoff among Commissioners and equivalent officers by appointing specified officers as Central Excise officers and vesting them with powers to pass Orders in Appeal for appeals filed on or before the cutoff; redistribution must be judicious, retain at least 50% disposal by the original Commissioner, respect prior involvement and subject familiarity, avoid assessees' inconvenience, follow prescribed submission formats and timelines, provide support staff, guard against mechanical disposals, continue review committee oversight, and publicise reallocation and update case tracking systems.

Transitional input tax credit on reverse charge: record in ST 3, revise return within allowed window, then migrate via TRAN 1.
Transitional credit arising from payment of service tax on reverse charge after 30 June 2017 but by 5th/6th July 2017 must be declared in Part I of Form ST-3 at specified entries with linked Part H entries; if ST-3 was already filed the credit must be shown in a revised return filed within 45 days. ST-3 returns for the quarter to 30 June filed up to 31 August are deemed filed on 31 August to permit revision, after which details may be carried into Form GST TRAN-1. Non-ACES assessees required to pay service tax post conversion may use non assessee registration to remit tax.

Ratification of wrong remittances: procedure permits transfer of misapplied tax payments after representation, verification, and PAO action.
Procedure for rectifying payments made to incorrect accounting heads or registration numbers: assessees must represent to the Commissioner with certified remittance challans, returns and supporting documents; obtain no-objection certificates and Range Officer certifications where payments are credited to another registration; produce both Central Excise and Service Tax challans when major heads are incorrect; and provide centralized registration and surrender certificates when relevant. Field formations must verify returns, payment authenticity, and incorporate corrected challan details before forwarding corrected ledger entries to the appropriate e-PAO for transfer, with major-head disputes referred to the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts.

Levy of service tax on foreign-to-foreign vessel transport: Indian importer designated liable to pay tax on customs value.
Notification withdraws exemption for sea-transport services provided by persons in non-taxable territories to persons in non-taxable territories up to Indian customs clearance; the Indian person who effects customs compliance is liable to pay service tax. Foreign shipping lines cannot meet the conditional exemption tied to non-availability of Cenvat credit because their services are zero-rated abroad and they are not registered under Cenvat Credit Rules, so tax applies on the full service value with the prescribed customs-value-based payment option and applicable ancillary cesses.

Form reference correction: service tax return requirement amended to include Form ST 3C alongside Form ST 3.
Corrigendum substitutes the phrase "Form ST-3" with "Form ST-3 and Form ST-3C" in Order No. 1/2017 Service Tax dated 25 April 2017, thereby adding the additional form to the prescribed service tax return documents and clarifying the filing obligation under that order.

Extension of filing deadline for Form ST-3 due to ACES website access issues, submission date moved accordingly.
Extension of the filing deadline for the ST 3 return is ordered under sub rule (4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, postponing the due date for the October 1, 2016-March 31, 2017 period to a later date in April 2017 because assessees faced intermittent difficulties accessing the ACES portal on the original due date.