Decentralisation of service tax administration shifts assessment and collection to divisional assistant commissioners, enabling local registration and enforcement.
The Board directs de-centralisation of service tax administration from Commissionerate Headquarters to Divisional Headquarters by assigning registration, assessment and collection work to each Divisional Assistant Commissioner, who may appoint a Central Excise officer of the rank of Superintendent under his charge to perform assessment and collection, with field formations to take follow-up action to implement the decision.

Pass Book Scheme compliance: authorities must finalise claims and grant credits by a specified deadline to ensure utilisation.
The DGFT amends paragraph 4 of an earlier circular under the Pass Book Scheme to require that all Designated Authorities of the Scheme and Commissioners of Customs must finalise claims and grant credits, wherever admissible, and complete these administrative actions by the specified deadline to permit utilisation of credits under the erstwhile Exim Policy.

Time-limit relaxation for brand-rate drawback filings allows DEPB exporters to submit belated applications following the Ministry circular.
The Board relaxed the statutory filing period under the Drawback Rules, 1995 for fixation of Brand Rate drawback claims under the DEPB Scheme where exporters could not avail MODVAT/CVD or excise credit. Belated Brand Rate applications affected by the earlier deadline are permitted and shall be deemed to have Central Government permission under Rule 17, subject to remaining procedural requirements of the Drawback Rules.

Drawback treatment: HEPC certified handloom exports deemed exempt from central excise for processing drawback claims without additional Modvat certification.
HEPC certification on Shipping Bills that goods are made from handloom fabrics must be treated by customs as sufficient evidence that such exports are unconditionally exempt from the Central Excise duty, and no separate certificate of non availment of Modvat is necessary for processing drawback claims.

Service tax on Mandap Keepers remains payable despite exemption for pandal or shamiana contractors under budget measures.
Clarifies that Mandap Keepers remain subject to service tax because they permit temporary occupation of a mandap (immovable property including furniture, fixtures, light fittings and floor coverings) for consideration, whereas pandal or shamiana contractors provide services in preparing, arranging, erecting or decorating a pandal or shamiana and supplying items for use therein; thus the exemption for pandal or shamiana contractors does not apply to Mandap Keepers.

Rebate procedure for exports to Nepal: strict compliance and officer liability for delays in invoice dispatch.
The Board directs strict implementation of the rebate procedure for exports of excisable goods to Nepal, requiring Land Customs Officers to follow the stipulations in Notification No. 50/94-C.E. (N.T.) and its amendment, with Commissioners issuing orders to ensure prompt despatch of duplicate invoices to the Directorate General (Inspection), New Delhi, and personal accountability of border supervisory officers for any delays.

Cash rebate from deemed credit register permitted for processed fabrics, unless drawback for the same duty is claimed.
Cash rebate of central excise duty paid from the deemed credit register on processed fabrics is permitted, consistent with earlier circulars allowing rebate from credit registers, provided that drawback for the same duty has not been claimed; exporters who have claimed drawback covering the excise incidence on fabrics are ineligible for rebate on made-up articles.

Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum amendments allowed for new-form filings, subject to existing statutory and regulatory conditions.
Amendments and modifications to IEMs filed in the new form made effective from 1st July, 1998 are permitted on entrepreneur request, subject to the terms and conditions of Press Note No.17(1997) and to applicable statutes, regulations and notifications issued by Central and State Governments; earlier Press Notes had restricted amendments to clerical errors and provided for deletion of non exempt IEMs.

Pass Book credit validity limited to one year or until March deadline; authorities must grant admissible credits by December cutoff.
Credits earned under the Pass Book Scheme may be utilised for imports within one year from the date of grant or up to 31.3.1999, whichever is earlier. Designated Authorities and Commissioners of Customs are directed to finalise claims and grant admissible credits positively by 31.12.1998.

Selection of scrutiny assessments: only time barred cases processed to prioritise computerisation and collection; non time barred need CCIT/DGIT approval.
Only time barred scrutiny assessments are to be completed during the year so assessing officers can prioritise computerisation, collection and tax base expansion. Non time barred cases pending as of the instruction date shall be taken up only after 1 4 99, except where exceptional circumstances exist; such exceptions require prior written approval of CCIT/DGIT and that approval may not be delegated. Selection parameters remain as in Instruction No. 1942, and packing up of cases for scrutiny should commence only after 1 4 99.

Replenishment rules updated: rough diamond exports and Diamond Imprest Licence revalidation aligned with new filing and carriage provisions.
The Handbook of Procedures is amended to require filing applications within six months following the month/quarter when export proceeds are realised; to permit export of rough diamonds against relevant Bills of Entry for replenishment benefit; to automatically revalidate Diamond Imprest Licences for one month where advance remittance was made within licence validity but import could not be effected; to allow personal carriage of specified jewellery and stones as samples for promotion up to a monetary threshold; and to set the replenishment rate for rough uncut and unset diamonds at ninety five percent of FOB.

Cash rebate from deemed credit register allowed for duty on processed fabrics unless drawback is claimed.
Cash rebate of central excise duty paid from the deemed credit register is permitted on the same basis as RG-23A and RG-23C; this includes duty on processed fabrics when paid through the deemed credit register. However, where drawback has been claimed for the duty incident on fabrics (after the All Industry Rate of Drawback was modified to cover such duty), exporters claiming drawback are not eligible for the cash rebate.

Preferential export allocation: raw cane sugar designated for USA subject to APEDA procedures and sole-agency export authorization.
A portion of the 1997-98 free sale raw cane sugar quota is allocated for preferential export to the United States for 1998-99 and placed at the disposal of the export development authority to issue export authorisations under specified procedures. A designated export corporation is the sole agency authorised to export this allocated sugar to the United States, and such exports are conditional on prescribed export documentation, including mandatory pre-shipment certification by the export inspection body.

Drawback relaxation powers delegated to Commissioners, subject to factual-verification guidelines and brand-rate application condition.
Delegation authorises Commissioners of Customs at the filing port to grant relaxation under the proviso to Rule 12(1)(a) of the Drawback Rules when an exporter submits a written representation; such exercise must follow the factual-report guidelines of Circular No. 74/97-Cus. and ensure drawback admissibility. Relaxation is not to be granted where a brand-rate application is required unless that application was timely filed with the Directorate of Drawback. Pending cases for which factual reports were sought by the Ministry must be disposed of by the Commissioners on the basis of those reports and merits, and the Circular should be publicised by Public Notices and Standing Orders.

Delegation of power: commissioners may convert shipping bills to drawback S/Bs subject to guidelines and brand-rate application compliance.
Commissioners of Customs are empowered to convert Shipping Bills into Drawback Shipping Bills on written representations from exporters, applying the Ministry's prescribed guidelines and ensuring drawback admissibility on merits; conversion tied to timely filing of any required brand-rate application with the Directorate of Drawback. Pending cases lacking Ministry-furnished factual reports are to be disposed of by Commissioners on merits following the factual report recommendations, and the change must be publicised via Public Notices or Standing Orders.

Clearance from Committee on Disputes required before inter departmental litigation; submit prescribed documents promptly to avoid dismissal.
Clearance from the Committee on Disputes must be obtained before pursuing inter departmental litigation; Commissionerates should send a self contained proposal to the Board with twenty copies of the brief in the prescribed format, four copies of the order in appeal, four copies of the order in original, a copy of the memorandum of appeal filed or to be filed, and other relevant documents. These instructions are mandatory and related assessee requests should be processed in a time bound manner to achieve disposal within one month.

Change in jurisdiction under Section 116 suspended to facilitate computerization and prevent file movement during the fiscal period.
A temporary moratorium is placed on changes of jurisdiction under Section 116 to prevent movement of files and to facilitate departmental computerization; departures for sensitive matters, prioritized centralization or decentralization, or compliance with court directions require prior approval by the Board.

Prospective effect of section 37B orders: assessment practice may change and pending cases must follow the order promptly.
Orders under section 37B have only prospective effect from their date of issue and pending assessments on that date must be finalised on the basis of the order. Assessment practice may be changed prospectively without seeking separate permission from the Commissioner. Fresh demands can be raised for the last six months under section 11A, and Trade Notices and section 11A notices should be issued promptly to avoid time bar.

DEPB rate amendments update export product classifications and require Export Promotion Council verification before rate fixation.
Amendments revise Appendix 28A entries to update DEPB rates and value-cap methodology for listed chemical products and amend textile and engineering product descriptions; units granted customs/excise duty exemptions remain subject to notification conditions with recovery of duties/interest under Customs and Central Excise law and possible government directions for failure to meet Net Foreign Exchange or export obligations; Appendix 32B heading is amended for certification agencies, and DEPB-rate fixation applications must be routed through Export Promotion Councils with verification of FOB values and input prices and meet the prescribed export-value threshold.

Third-party export counting under EPCG: entitlement depends on which party claims DEPB and contractual arrangement.
Counting of third-party exports under the EPCG scheme is limited to exports where the EPCG licence holder is the manufacturer; if exports are routed through a third party, DEPB benefit may be claimed by either party per their agreement, subject to a No Objection Certificate from the other party. When further processing is required, the EPCG licence holder must perform processing up to the intermediate stage using EPCG capital goods; the final conversion may be done by another manufacturer upon licence amendment and an enhanced export obligation of 50%.