'If CBEC fails to dispose of refund claim in 90 days, firms can take up grievance'

We are an import trading company based in Delhi. We have been regularly importing material at ICD Dadri. Against these imports we apply for refund on four per cent SAD as per provisions in the Customs Act. I wish to know if there is any time limit under which the refund is supposed to come through. As per the information that I have, the limit is three months. If the refund does not come through in three months (or the prescribed time limit), what recourse do I have?
As per Section 27A of the Customs Act, 1962, for interest payment, the time limit of three months kicks in when the order for refund is made. For expeditious processing of refund claims, detailed instructions can be found in Chapter 14 of the CBEC Customs Manual, which deal with receipt and acknowledgement of all refund applications, processing of refund applications and their disposal, issue of cheque within three days of the order, audit, instructions of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner and monitoring mechanism. The CBEC Citizen's Charter says that the department will dispose of a refund claim within three months of receipt of a complete claim. In case that does not happen in practice, you may take up your grievance with the appropriate authorities as detailed in Chapter 32 of the CBEC Customs Manual.

We have three R&D units, each with a separate registration under service tax laws. We have Cenvat Credit balances in these units. We now intend to centralise the accounts and take centralised registration covering the activities in all three units. Can we utilise the balances that are available at the three units for discharge of service tax liability at the centralised office?
Rules 10, 10A and 12 of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 cover various situations when Cenvat Credit can be transferred from one unit/premises to the other. Rule 10 (2) deals with a situation where a provider of output service shifts or transfers his business on account of a change in ownership or on account of sale, merger, amalgamation, lease or transfer of the business to a joint venture, with the specific provision for transfer of liabilities of such business. Rule 10A deals with transfer of unutilised Cenvat credit of additional duty leviable under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1985. Rule 12A (4) deals with transfer of Cenvat Credit available with one of his registered manufacturing premises or premises providing taxable service to his other such registered premises by a large tax payer. Your case does not appear to fall in any of these Rules.

Do we need to pay excise duty on the embossing of aluminium foil?
In the case of GTC Industries Ltd. [2011 (266) ELT 160 (Bom.)], it was held that when duty paid aluminium foil is subjected to the process of embossing/cutting to shape, the resultant product does not emerge as a distinct marketable commodity and hence no excise duty is leviable on such a product.

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