The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has denied the report that the Customs, Excise Duty and Service Tax refunds/drawbacks are being held-up by the Department. This was mentioned in a certain section of media attributing to a statement by President, Federation of India Export Organisations (FIEO) to the effect that Customs, Excise Duty and Service Tax refunds/drawbacks are being held-up by the Department.

 This is not correct.  The following statement will indicate that more amounts have been refunded in 2013-14 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

For the period April – February

(Rs. in crore)

Head	2012-13	2013-14	Increase (%)
Customs	14867	18144	22.0
Central Excise	17884	23154	29.5
Service Tax	1328	2111	58.9
Total	34079	43409	27.4

Tax refund processing: CBEC states refunds and drawbacks are not withheld and reporting increased disbursements. The Central Board of Excise and Customs denies media reports that Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax refunds and drawbacks are being held up, and furnishes comparative April-February disbursement data showing year on year increases in refunds across Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax to correct the public record.