Circular No. 493/59/99-CX.6
dated 12/11/1999

F.No.212/14/99-CX.6
Government of India
ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue, Mudurai-2

Subject : CE - Introduction of New Excise Control Code (ECC) Number based on permanent Account Number (PAN) allotted by the Income Tax Department - Instruction

        I am directed to say that Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce, has decided that all persons dealing with various regulatory agencies, such as the Central Excise and Customs Department (including Service Tax Administration), Income tax Department, Offices of Director General of Foreign Trade etc. should be identified with reference to a common identification number. It has been further decided that such common identification number to be used by various agencies will be based on the Permanent account Number allotted by the Income Tax Department. A background note on this matter is enclosed for your information. (See Annexure - I)

        In pursuance of the aforesaid, it has been decided to issue a new series of Excise Control Code Number (New ECC Number) to all Central Excise assessees amd registered dealers (hereinafter referred to as 'concerned persons' ). The Central Excise assessees and registered dealers shall obtain New ECC Number before 1.1.2000. Instructions for the allotment of ECC Number to Service tax assessees will be issued separately. The procedure for allotment of New ECC Number to concerned persons is specified in Paragraph 3 of this Circular.

2.        Components of New ECC Number

          The New ECC number will be alphanumeric. The first part would be the 10-Character PAN issued by Income-tax authorities to that concerned person to whom the New ECC Number is to be allotted. The second part would comprise of a fixed 2-Character alpha-code, which will be as follows:

Category	Code
(1) Central Excise  manufacturers (Including registered warehouses)	XM
(2) Registered Dealers	XD

        This will be followed by 3-Character numeric-code - 001, 002, 003.......etc. In case, a manufacturer, registered with the Central Excise Deparment, has only one factory/dealer's premise/warehouse, the last three characters will be "001". If there are more than one factories/warehouses/dealer's premises of such a person having common PAN for all such factories / warehouses / dealer's premises, the last 3 character of the new ECC would be "001, 002, 003.......etc.

        Eamples

        (1) Where the concerned person has only one factory:

        New ECC Number will be - PAN + XM + 001

        Suppose PAN is ABCDE1234H, the New ECC Number will be -

        ABCDE1234H XM  001

        (2) Where the concerned person has more than one factories say 3 factories, having PAN as aforesaid, then the New ECC Number will be:

        ABCDE1234H  XM  001
        ABCDE1234H  XM  002
        ABCDE1234H  XM  003

        (3) Where the concerned person has one factory and is also registered as dealer, having PAN as aforesaid, them the New ECC Number will be:

        ABCDE1234H  XM  001 (for Factory) 
        ABCDE1234H  XD  001 (for Dealer)

        Since each factory will be applying for allotment of New ECC Number, a centralised allotment will be done at the level of Division (where all the factories fall within the jurisdiction of the same Division) or at the level of Commissionerate (where all the factories fall within the jurisdiction of the same Commissionerate) or at the level of Director General of Inspection, Customs & Central Excise, New Delhi (where the factories fall within the jurisdiction of different Commissionerates). The same principle will be applied to the allotment of New ECC Number to Dealers.

3.    Procedure for allotment of New ECC

(1) Every concerned person shall be required to obtain a New ECC Number.  

(2) They shall apply in the form (in duplicate) given in Annexure-II to this Circular along with a certified copy of PAN (letter/card issued by the Incometax Department), to the Jurisdictional Range Superintendent of Central Excise and obtain a dated acknowledgement. An entry should be made in a register (serially numbered) indicating name of the concerned person, address, Range and the existing ECC Number and date of forwarding of application, New ECC Number (to be filled when allotted). The Entry Number (Receipt Number) should be endorsed on the Acknowledgement Slip.

(3) A Special Counter will be opened in each of the Ranges for receipt of the application. The acknowledgement will be given immediately.

(4) All applications will be forwarded to Divisional Office. A Special Cell will be constituted in each Division to process the papers immediately. Where the applications are complete in all respects and there is only one factory of the PAN-holder or more than one factory within the jurisdiction of the said Division, New ECC Number will be allotted within 3 working days and the letter will be issued by the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner to the concerned persons (applicants) in the form given in Annexure -III. One copy of the letter will also be forwarded to the concerned Pay & Accounts Officer (PAO).

(5) Where there are more than one factories of the PAN-holder falling outside the jurisdiction of a Division, all such applications will be forwarded to the Commissionerates Headquarters within 3 working days of the receipt of the application from the Range Office.

(6) A Cell will be constituted in the Headquarters, as well to process the applications. Where all the factories fall within the jurisdiction of the Commissionertate, the New ECC Number will be issued by the Commissionerate and initiated to the concerned persons (applicants) individually and the copies will be forwared to the concerned PAO, in the format given in Annexure-III. Where the factories of the PAN-holder fall in the jurisdiction of different Commissionerates, the applications will be sent by the Commissioner to the Director General of Inspection, New Delhi within 3 working days of the receipt from the Division Office.

(7) DGI will also constitute a Special cell to process such applications. The New ECC Number will be allotted by DGI and initiated to the concerned persons in the format given in Annexure-III. The copies of these letters will also be forwarded to the concerned PAO.

4.    National Informatic Centre (NIC) has been asked to develop a suitable software as a part of "SERMON" package to capture the details of Annexure-II in the System and also to generate Annexure-III letter electronically. Separate instructions will be issued in this regard. For the time being, the manual exercise of processing of applications received should commence immediately. Once this operation is automated/data entered in computers, the Directory of New ECC Number and its updates should be provided to the concerned Pay & Accounts Officer (PAO) in electronic form (Floppies/Tapes/CDs), in addition to the individual intimations in the manner specified in Paragraph 3 of this Circular.

5.    A database should be created in each Division on the basis of these applications. It is proposed that more information relating to each assessee will be added in order to have comprehensive assessees' profile and to facilitate cross-referencing.

6.    In this regard, it is mentioned that it shall be compulsory for all the Central Excise assessees and dealers registered under the Central Excise Rules, 1944 to obtain PAN whether or not they pay Income-tax. The Income Tax Department has already been requested to allot PAN on priority basis to all Central Excise assessees and Registered Dealers.

7.    It is further mentioned that the New ECC Number will be introduced w.e.f. 1.1.2000. However, the existing ECC Number will continue to be mentioned in all the excise documents which specify/prescribe for mentioning of ECC Number, including the TR-6 Challans. However, from 1.4.2000, only the New ECC Number will be used.

8.    In the said application, the Location Code  is to be filled in by the Range Office. After re-organisation of Commissionerates, the Directorate of Statistics & Intelligence has already allocated revised location six digits Codes to all Range Offices.

9.    The process for allotment of the New ECC Code should be started immediately. It should be taken up as a Special Drive by the field formations and the work should be completed latest by 15th December, 1999. For this purpose, the Commissioners should interact with the field officers and the assessees so that the applications are received expeditiously and processed under the supervision of senior officers. The work should be monitored by the Commissioner on weekly-basis. Apart from issuing trade notice, wide publicity should be given in the local newspapers, including publishing the format of the application and the guidelines. The publicity material/trade notice should also indicate the time-frame for the submission of the application, its processing and delivery of new ECC Number to assessees. The Commissioner will ensure that this work is completed by the schedule time. The Director General of Inspection (DGI) will also monitor the progress on weekly-basis and issue necessary directions so that the specified schedule is strictly adhered to.

10.    Each Commissioner will report to the Director general of Inspection, New Delhi by 20th December, 1999 about completion of this work. DGI will send a report to the Board by 27th December, 1999 which will also include the status of allotment of New ECC Number by the DGICCE.

11.    The Principal Chief Controller of Accounts under Central Board of Excise & Customs will take immediate measures to develop suitable software for Central Excise revenue according in consultation with NIC.

12.    Receipt of this Circular may please be acknowledged.

13.    Hindi version will follow.

Sd/-
(P.K.Sinha)
Under Secretary (CX.6)

Annexure - I

Background Note on a Common Business Identifier for Importers/Exporters, 
Central Excise assessees, Income-tax assessees, etc.-

            Presently, different agencies of the Government use separate number for identification of individuals and businesses in relation to the activities concerning the agencies. The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) allocates Importer Exporter Code No. (TEC No.) for identifying importers and exporters; the Income-tax Department issues the Permanent Account Number (PAN) for all Income tax, Wealth tax assessees; the Central Excise Department is also registering the various manufacturers and allocating a separate series of registration numbers. The RBI separately used to allocate a CNX number for identification of the exporters.

            The main objective of allocating an alphanumerical number by the Government agencies is to identify the assessees/exporters/importers. It is also used to identify in some cases the concerned office where the person would be assessed or registered. Further an alphanumeric number helps in processing of the information relation to the assessee on computers.

            A working Group comprising officers of the different Departments had examined the feasibility of adopting a Common Identifier by the various agencies. I was abserved that the assessee will be considerably benefited if he has to obtain just one identification number for use by the various Government agencies. With the increasing import and export activity and universal extension of modvat, it has become necessary to develop, linkages between export transactions, the manufacturing activity and the export transactions. Besides, maintaining a complete profile of a person concerned, wherein the records of his conduct with any of the Government Departments could be ascertained, such a linkage can help in verification of availment of modvat, excise rebate on exports etc. Such a measure would be particularly helpful in introducing selective risk based assessment of import/export transactions instead of verification of each and every shipping bill and bill of entry. A common identifier would immediately help obtain an overall assessment of the assessee's credentials with different Government agencies. Various Government Departments are presently the DGFT, the Income-tax and the Customs and Excise Departments are presently engaged in computerisation of their operations. There is need to share information from the computers of one of the Departments with the other Departments. This exchange of infromation will be made easier if there are common identification numbers.

            It has been decided to adopt the Permanent Account Number issued by the Income-tax Department as the basis for the Common Identifier. PAN is a 10-digits alpha numeric code and can identify upto 96 crores business entities. Apart from being unique (PAN is issued centrally and is generated by the computer system), it has the widest application (more than 2 crores assesses as against about 3 lakhs importers exporters using IE Codes and about 1.2 lakhs Central Excise assessees using ECC Number). Further, since it is not dependent on the location of the office of registration, it ill not get modified on account of re-organisation of jurisdiction of the concerned Department/Offices.

            As per the decision of the Government, PAN will be the only identifier for cross-referencing with the other Departments though each Department is free to use any internal codes which it may consider necessary.

Annexure-II

(In Duplicate
to be filed in the jurisdictional Range Office)

FORMAT FOR APPLICATION FOR OBTAINING NEW EXCISE CONTROL CODE NUMBER
(Manufacturers/Registered Dealers/Warehouses)

To

The Deputy/Assistant Commissioner,
(Address of the Division)

Subject: Allotment of New Excise Control Code Number - Regarding -

Sir,

        I/We may Kindly be allotted New Excise Control Code Number (New ECC Number) for which the details are as under:-

FORMAT FOR THE DETAILS (All entries shall be in BLOCK letters)

1. Name of the Applicant(s)                                                                                                       

2. Permanent Account Number                                                                                                 
   (Issued by the Income Tax Department) (Attested copy to be enclosed)

3. Applicant's Factory/Warehouse/Registered Dealer's Premise (strike whichever is not applicable)

Existing ECC Number        :
Registration Number           :
Address                                :
Telephone Nos.                   :
Fax Nos.                                :
E-mail Address                    :
Range                                    Division                                          Commissionerate                                   Location Code (6 digit - To be filled by the Range Office)                                                                               

4. OTHER* Factories/Warehouses/Registered Dealer's Premises (strike whichever is are not aplicable)          

*[Each of these Factories /warehouses/Registered Dealer's Premises have to apply individually in their own jurisdictional Range Office(s)]       

       [Please furnish the aforesaid information for each of the other such factory(ies) / warehouse(s) / dealer's premise(s)]

I/We hereby certify that the information given in this form is true, correct and complete in every respect and that I am authorised to sign on behalf of the applicant.

Date :                                                                            (Signature of the authorised person)

Place :

Note:

1. Factories, registered dealers depots or warehouses shall ase separate application, as the case may be, for allotment of New ECC number
2. Location Code is to be filled by the Range Office based on the new codes allotted by the Directorate of S & I.
3. Telephone numbers/Fax Numbers/E-mail address are to be filled if available

Annexure - III

Address of the Central Excise Office

To

(Name and address of the Applicant)

Subject: Allotment of New Excise Control Code Number - Application Receipt No.              dated                               .

Sir/Madam,

1.    In place of your existing ECC Number                                , the New ECC Number is                                             .

OR

            Your New ECC Number is                                                                                           .

2.    The Location Code concerning your factory/warehouse/registered dealer's premise is                                                     .

3.    You are advised to deposit Central E xcise duties and other related Government dues in any of the authorised branches of the nominated banks, i.e.                                                                  .

4.    You are requested to use the New ECC Number along with the existing ECC Number (if any) with effect from 1.1.2000 till 31.3.2000 on the requiste documents/records. The New ECC Number shall be exclusively used with effect from 1.4.2000.

Signature of the
Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise
Or Deputy/Assistant Director, DGICCE
With official sea

Date :

Place :

Acknowledgement

Subject: Allotment of New Excise Control Code Number - Regarding -

            Your application for allotment of New ECC number received on                              is hereby acknowledged. the Receipt number is                                    dated                                            .

(Signature of Sector Officer)
with Official Seal