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GRIEVANCE
REDRESSAL MECHANISM |
Grievances can
primarily be divided into three categories:
1.
Complaints of corrupt practices against officers
2.
Delay in decision making by officers.
3.
Grievances against merits of the decision taken by officers.
For dealing
with complaints against corrupt practices by officers, the department has a
separate vigilance
organisation headed by the
Directorate General of Vigilance. Any complaints of corruption against the
officer can be logged with the D.G. Vigilance at New Delhi or the Zonal units
of the Directorate of Vigilance.
Similarly, for redressal of grievances against the merits of a decision
taken by any officers, the law itself provides for remedial measures in the
form of appeals, revisions etc. to the departmental officers or to the tribunal
as the case may be. An order passed by the officer contains a preamble
indicating the authority to whom the appeal can be made and the procedure
thereof. For the details of the mechanism for appeals, revisions the relevant
provisions in the Customs and Excise law may be referred.
For all other
types of grievances including delays in decision making, administrative
machinery exists in each Custom House/Central Excise Commissionerate to deal
with such complaints. To begin with each field formation has an officer
designated as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) who can be
approached for seeking information on any technical or administrative matter.
For delays in
decision making on the part of any officer (such as delay in assessment of a
Bill of Entry, Shipping Bill or delays in sanction of refunds, drawback etc.)
the aggrieved person is advised to meet the senior officers like
Joint/Additional Commissioners as also the Commissioners of Customs or Central
Excise as the case may be. Usually the Commissioners set apart an hour during
the day to meet any member of the public without any prior appointment.
Apart from the
aforesaid arrangements, a system of Public Grievance Committees (PGC)
also exists in all the Custom Houses and Central Excise Commissionerates. These
committees generally meet once a month and take up specific issues pertaining
to delays or other matter of general interest. These committees are chaired by
the concerned Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise and have
representatives from the various local trade organisations
as also representative of other government departments, ports etc. On request
any person can be invited specially to these committees for any specific issue
to be discussed. At some of the places there are different PGCs – separately
for the grievances of the public sector and private sector entities.
In the Custom
Houses apart from the Public Grievance Committees there is also an institution
of Watch Dog Committee. This Committee, chaired by the Commissioner
meets once a week and takes up all cases of grievances of individual members of
the trade or the public for resolution.
There is
another forum in the Commissionerates and Custom Houses in the form of Regional
Advisory Committees. These committees generally meet once a quarter and take up
issues of general interest as against specific cases which are taken up by the
PGCs. At the apex level there is the Customs and Central Excise Central
Advisory Council which is chaired by the Finance Minister and
comprises the heads of FICCI, CII, ASOCHAM, AIMO, FIEO etc. as its members. Two
Members of Parliament are also represented on this council. This council takes
up general issues relating to procedures and policy for both Customs and Central
Excise matters.
VIGILANCE ORGANIZATION OF CBEC
The Directorate
General of Vigilance is an attached office of the Central Board of Excise &
Customs (CBEC) in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. It is headed by the Director General of
Vigilance who is also the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Central Board of
Excise & Customs.
2.
While the overall responsibility for the maintenance of integrity and
efficiency on the part of the officers and staff working under the control of
CBEC vests in the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Vigilance Officer interacts
with the Board in all matters relating to vigilance and
provides the link between the Central Board of Excise & Customs and the
Central Vigilance Commission. The Chief Vigilance Officer is appointed with the
approval of CVC. The Director General of Vigilance / Chief Vigilance Officer liases with the Central Vigilance Commission, the Central
Bureau of Investigation and field formations in matters relating to complaints
having vigilance angle, investigation thereof, issue of Charge Sheets,
conducting inquiries and imposition of penalties on the erring officers.
3.
The headquarters of the Directorate General of Vigilance is at 1st
and 2nd Floor, Hotel Samrat, Chanakyapuri, New
Delhi. It has four Zonal Units at New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai.
4.
As far as Groups `B', `C' & `D' officers are concerned, the
Commissioner/Addl. Commissioner / Jt. Commissioner of Customs & Central
Excise of the respective field formations are the Disciplinary Authority. While
complaints relating to allegation of corruption or matter having a bearing on
the conduct of any officer / staff may be posted to the Director General of
Vigilance / Chief Vigilance Officer, in the interest of speedy investigations,
it would be preferable to file the complaints to the respective Zonal Chief
Commissioner or to the concerned Commissioner
himself. In respect of Group `A' & `B' officers, copy of such complaints may
be endorsed to CVO/DG(VIG). The complaints should be
signed giving the full address including telephone/fax no., e-mail address etc.
of the complainant. Complaints may be sent to DG (Vigilance) or other
officers of his organization whose e-mail addresses are given in the table
below. Full postal address of the person making the complaint may be
indicated while sending the e-mail, and complaints received on e-mail without
the full postal address of complainant may not be entertained. The confidentiality
of the complainant's identity will be maintained.
5.
The names of officers of the Directorate General of Vigilance along with their
designations to whom such postal complaints may be sent are given below.
Sending the complaints to the concerned jurisdictional office would expedite
the action thereon.
|
Sl. No. |
Name of Office |
Name of Officer and Address |
Jurisdiction |
|
1. |
Delhi (Hqrs) |
Shri K. K. Jha Phone - (011) 26115722 E-mail
: dgvig@icegate.gov.in |
All India |
|
2. |
Delhi (Hqrs) |
Ms. Manoranjan Virk Phone - (011) 26115725 E-mail
: adgvig@icegate.gov.in |
All India |
|
3. |
Delhi (North Zone) |
Shri K.K.Goyal Phone - (011) 23370006 E-mail
: adgvignorth@icegate.gov.in |
Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan,
Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. |
|
4. |
Mumbai (West Zone) |
Sh. Sujit K. Sinha Directorate General of Vigilance,Customs and Central ExciseWest
Zonal Unit,7th Floor, Annexe Building, New Customs
House, Ballard Estate, Mumbai 400 001 Phone No. 022 - 2261 3514 E-mail : adgvigwest@icegate.gov.in |
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman
and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
|
5. |
Chennai (South Zone) |
Shri
S.S.Rana Phone No.
(044) 25233063 E-mail
: adgvigsouth@icegate.gov.in |
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry and Lakshadweep. |
|
6. |
Kolkata (East Zone) |
Shri S.S.Rana Phone No.
(033) 22472311 E-mail:
adgvigeast@icegate.gov.in |
West Bengal, Orissa, Sikkim,
Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal, Manipur and Andaman
and Nicobar. |
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