As per section 6 of the Central Excise Act, prescribed person who is engaged in –
(a) The production or manufacturer of any specified goods included in the First Schedule and the Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act,
(b) The wholesale purchase or sale (whether on its own account or broker or commission agent) or the storage of any specified goods included in the First Schedule and the Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act,
shall get himself registered with the appropriate authority.
Moreover as per CENVAT Credit Rules, if a dealer or importer intends to issue CENVATABLE invoices, he is required to take registration.
CENVAT Credit Scheme: If a manufacturer pays excise duty for purchases of materials used by him as input in the process of manufacture, he will get credit of such duty paid from the duty payable on sales value of his output so that duty payable shall be on the ‘value added’. Such scheme is known as CENVAT Credit Scheme.
Registration procedure and other relevant issues
Rule 9 of Central Excise Rule and the relevant circulars of CBE & C lay down the procedure of registration. The procedures are discussed below in brief:
(a) The registration will be made in respect of premises and not in respect of person. Separate registration is required for each separate premises, if the person has more than one premises.
(b) Application of Form A-1 shall be submitted in office of the Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the premises. In case of EOU located in port towns, application should be submitted to the concerned Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner, Custom.
(c) Application shall be accompanied by self-attested copy of PAN, if not available copy can be accepted.
(d) Registration Certificate in Form ‘RC’ shall be issued within 7 days of the receipt of the application form, if it is found in order.
(e) If there is any change in the constitution of the firm or company, the same shall be intimated within 30 days of change.
(f) Each registered person will be allotted a 15 digit-code known as Excise Control Code. Assessee is required to mention the ECC code in all invoices.
(g) If the registered person ceases to carry on the operation for which he is registered, he is required to apply for de-registration. However, if he closes his business, he can voluntarily surrender his registration certificate to registering authority. If no demand is pending, the registering authority will cancel the registration.
(h) Registration certificate can be revoked or suspended for breach of any of the conditions of the Act and Rules and if the holder or person in his employment has been convicted of an offence under section 161 of Indian Penal Code.
Penalty for failure to get registered
If the manufacturer or producer who is required to take registration fails to apply for registration, a penalty upto duty of contravening goods or Rs 10,000, whichever is higher, can be imposed and contravening goods can be confiscated. Moreover, imprisonment up to 7 years (minimum 6 months) can be imposed as per section 9 of the Central Excise Act.