CBEC out in the cold

From August this year, the finance minister's advisor Parthasarathi Shome, as head of a high-level committee, started hearing industry's concerns on various tax-related issues every week. Naturally, industry has welcomed these meetings but officials of the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) have not. Earlier, companies used to make such representations to the Board but with a senior official like Shome lending them an ear, the CBEC's role and, therefore, its clout has diminished to that extent.