waiver of penalty for non filing of NIL return of ER3

[BEENA MANADATH]

One of my clients is a manufacturer of curry powder. He has Central Excise Registration eventhough he got SSI Regn. He failed to file ER3 Return for 2 quarters. Department issued notice for paying penilty of ₹ 20000/- for each quarter. Is waiver of that penalty available for my client...?

Please clarify..

Regards,

CA.Beena

AI Summary

Late filing penalty: statutory daily levy applies to non-filed NIL returns, limiting scope for waiver or remission.
Waiver of penalty for non-filing of a NIL ER3 return is constrained by the statutory penalty regime introduced by Rule 12(6) of the Central Excise Rules, 2002: a daily penalty is levied from the due date until filing, subject to a prescribed maximum. Prior discretionary waivers and case law from before the 2015 amendment may have limited relevance; assessees may present genuine inadvertence or SSI status as mitigation, but the amended rule and administrative practice largely restrict remission.