CITIZEN CHARTER & SEVOTTAM

Index :

 Citizen Charter
 Vision & Strategy Document
 Sevottam
 Regulatory & Service Functions
Citizen Charter
 Citizen’s Charter is a document which represents a systematic effort to focus on the commitment of the
Organisation towards its Citizen’s in respects of:

 Standard of Services,
 Information,
 Choice and Consultation,
 Non-discrimination and Accessibility,
 Grievance Redress,
 Courtesy and
 Value for Money.

This also includes expectations of the Organisation from the Citizen for fulfilling the commitment of the Organisation.

 The term ‘Citizen’ in the Citizen’s Charter implies the clients or customers whose interests and values are addressed
by the Citizen’s Charter and, therefore, includes not only the citizens but also all the stakeholders, i.e., citizens,
customers, clients, users, beneficiaries, other Ministries/ Departments/ Organisations, State Governments, UT
Administrations etc.

 Citizen’s Charter initiative not only covers the Central Government Ministries/ Departments/ Organisations but also
the Departments/ Agencies of State Governments and UT Administrations.

 The Citizen’s Charter is not legally enforceable and, therefore, is non-justiciable. However, it is a tool for facilitating
the delivery of services to citizens with specified standards, quality and time frame etc. with commitments from the
Organisation and its clients.
Components of a Citizen’s Charter:

 A good Citizen’s Charter should have the following components :-

(i) Vision and Mission Statement of the Organisation

(ii) Details of Business transacted by the Organisation
(iii) Details of ‘Citizens’ or ‘Clients’
(iv) Statement of services including standards, quality, time frame etc.
provided to each Citizen/Client & and how/ where to get the services
(v) Details of Grievance Redress Mechanism and how to access it
(vi) Expectations from the ‘Citizens’ or ‘Clients’
(vii) Additional commitments such as compensation in the event of failure of
service delivery.

*Phase out areas for introduction of small steps * Win consumer confidence with small, highly visible
measures * Remember Citizen's Charter is a constantly evolving process* Use simple language* Train
your staff about their role and responsibility in the implementation of the Charter* Don’t promise more
than you can deliver *
Vision & Mission
 A vision statement is a road map, indicating what the Organisation wants to become
by setting a defined direction for its growth. (Futuristic)
A Vision Statement describes the desired future position of the company
 A Mission Statement defines the Organization's business, its objectives and its
approach to reach those objectives. (Present Oriented)
Elements of Mission and Vision Statements are often combined to provide a statement
of the company’s purposes, goals and values.
Sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably.
Purpose :
 Serve as foundations for a broader strategic plan
 Motivate existing employees and attract potential employees by clearly categorizing
the Org's goals and attracting like-minded individuals
 Focus Org efforts and facilitate the creation of core competencies by directing the
focus on strategic opportunities that advance the Org's vision
Strategy :: To implement vision , mission or objectives
GOOD or BAD Vision Statement
 A consensus does not exist on the characteristics of a "good" or "bad" vision statement.
 Commonly cited traits include:
Concise: able to be easily remembered and repeated
Clear: defines a prime goal
Time frame : evolving and keeps the Org’s vision doesn't stagnate
Future-oriented: describes where the Org is going rather than the current state
Stable: offers a long-term perspective and is unlikely to be impacted by market or
technology changes
Challenging: not something that can be easily met and discarded
Abstract: general enough to encompass all of the organization's interests and
strategic direction
Inspiring: motivates employees and is something that employees view as desirable
 CBIC::Citizen’s Charter
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, in the Ministry of Finance, is the apex body for
administering the levy and collection of indirect taxes of the Union of India viz. Central Excise duty,
Customs duty and Central Goods and Service Tax, IGST, and for facilitating cross border movement
of goods & services.
In order to improve the delivery of its services, the Board has decided to formulate this Citizens'
Charter

This Charter is the declaration of our mission, values and standards to achieve excellence in
the formulation and implementation of Customs, Central Excise and Central Goods and Service Tax,
IGST policies and enforcement of cross border controls for the benefit of trade, industry and other
stakeholders.

This Citizens' Charter will also be the benchmark to determine our efficiency and would be a
dynamic document which would be reviewed at least once in two years.

While preparing this charter, the representatives from Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Federation of
Indian Exporters Association, Quality Council of India, Container Corporation of India, Delhi
Customs Clearing Agents Association, the officers and staff associations of the department were
consulted.

Citizens' Charter was first issued on the first day of December, 2008.
 CBIC::Citizen’s Charter
VISION:
Our vision is to be a modern and professional indirect tax administration, safeguarding our economic
frontiers adopting stakeholders centric approach based on trust and voluntary compliance.

(Our Vision is to provide an efficient and transparent mechanism for collection of indirect taxes and enforcement of
cross border controls with a view to encourage voluntary compliance)

MISSION:
Our Mission is to provide an efficient system by:
 Formulating progressive tax policies & processes to enable smooth economic activities.
 Realising revenue in a fair, equitable, transparent and efficient manner.
 Managing cross border movements of goods and people with a view to ensuring safety and security of citizens and
economy
 Facilitating capacity enhancement of all stakeholders to improve compliance.
 Adopting international best practices and promoting bilateral and multilateral international cooperation.
 Investing in human capital to achieve a high level of integrity, competency and commitment.
 Administering goods and services tax across India in harmony with state tax administrators.
 Innovative use of technology & techniques for maximum facilitation and minimal intervention.
 Combating tax evasion & commercial frauds with interventions based on risk assessment using analytics &
predictive technology.
OUR STRATEGY:
The strategy for achieving our mission shall comprise the following:
 Benchmarking of operations and adopting best practices
 Enhancing the use of information technology
 Streamlining Customs, Central Excise and CGST, IGST procedures by employing modern techniques like risk
management, non- intrusive inspections and accredited clients facilitation
 Evolving cooperative initiatives with other government and private agencies and building partnerships with trade,
industry and other stakeholders
 Measuring conformance to service delivery standards
 Developing professionalism through capacity building.
 CBIC::Citizen’s Charter
Our Key Functions and Services :

Regulatory Functions:
 Levy and collection of Customs and Central Excise duties, CGST & IGST
 Registration and monitoring of units manufacturing excisable goods and service providers
 Receipt and scrutiny of declarations and returns filed with the department
 Prevention of smuggling and combating evasion of duties and service tax
 Enforcement of border control on goods and conveyances
 Assessment, examination and clearance of imported goods and export goods
 Implementation of export promotion measures
 Clearance of international passengers and their baggage
 Resolution of disputes through administrative and legal measures
 Sanction of refund, rebate and drawback
 Realization of arrears of revenue
 Audit of assessments for ensuring tax compliance.

Service Functions:
 Dissemination of information on law and procedures through electronic and print media
 Enabling filing of declarations, returns and claims through online services.
 Providing information on the status of processing of declarations, returns and claims
 Assisting the right holders in protecting their intellectual property rights
 Responding to public enquiries relating to Customs, Central Goods and Service Tax matters
 Providing Customs services such as examination of goods and factory stuffing of export goods at clients' sites, as per policy.

Our Expectations:
We expect citizens to:
 uphold and respect the laws of the land
 voluntarily discharge all tax liabilities
 fulfill their duties and legal obligations in time
 be honest in furnishing information
 be co-operative and forthright in inquiries and verifications
 avoid unnecessary litigation.
 This will enable us to provide our services in an effective and efficient manner.
 CBIC::Citizen’s Charter
OUR STANDARDS (thus service delivery standards >> Sevottam >>RFD)
We shall follow the following time norms in our services:

• Acknowledge all written communications including declarations, intimations, applications and returns
immediately and in no case later than 7 working days of their receipt
• Convey decision on matters relating to declarations or assessments within 15 working days of their
receipt
• Dispose of a refund claim within 3 months of receipt of a complete claim
• Remit drawback within 7 working days of
 filing of manifest in the case of electronic processing of declarations
 filing of a paper claim in the case of manual processing
• Clear the goods, where the declaration relating to any consignment is complete and correct,
 in case of exports, within 24 hours of filing of declaration
 in case of imports, within 48 hours of filing of declaration
• Complete GST registration formalities within 2 Working days of receiving a complete application
•Complete examination and clearance of export consignment at factory premises within 24 hours of
accepting the request
•Give minimum 15 days advance intimation before undertaking the audit of assessees' records
•Release of seized documents, which have not been relied on for the issue of the show cause notice,
within 30 days from the date of issue of the said notice, unless otherwise provided under the law.
•Time norms for other activities, as may be prescribed, shall also be observed.

We shall endeavor to achieve minimum compliance level of 80% of the aforesaid time norms.
Compliance levels shall be gradually enhanced through close monitoring, standardization of processes,
use of IT enabled services etc.
CBIC::Citizen’s Charter
OUR COMMITMENT :: We shall strive to:

 be at the service of the country and its citizens

 work to uphold the economic security and sovereignty of the country
 make our procedures and transactions as transparent as possible
 encourage and assist voluntary tax compliance
 carry out our tasks with:
- integrity and judiciousness
- impartiality and fairness
- courtesy and understanding
- objectivity and transparency
- uprightness and conscientiousness
- promptness and efficiency.

We Further Commit That ::

 All officers will carry Identity Cards and all uniformed officers will wear name badges while on official duty.
 Personal and business information disclosed to us will be kept confidential subject to the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
 Assessees will be visited only by authorized officers.
 Due respect will be given to the tax compliance record of the assessees.
 Clearance of consignments will be withheld only after explaining the reasons thereof and an opportunity will be provided before passing
any final order.
 Baggage of international passengers will be opened only after explaining the reasons and in their presence.
 Before searching any premises or persons, the reasons thereof shall be explained. Officers undertaking any search operations shall offer
themselves for personal search beforehand.
 Full information about appeal procedure shall be provided alongwith details of the authorities with whom appeals can be filed.
 Stakeholders will be consulted continually while reviewing our policies and procedures. Timely publicity of all changes in the law and
procedures shall be provided.
 Efforts will be made to enhance the use of information technology in all work areas and enable the trade to have IT based information
access.
 Every possible assistance will be rendered by the Public Relations Officer in the Divisional Office/Commissionerate Office/Custom House.
The name and telephone number of the Public Relations Officer will be prominently displayed at such offices. Relevant information and
details of procedures, as may be required, will also be provided.
 The service attributes shall be measured through customer perception feedback on the above commitments with the intention of
continuous improvement in service delivery.
CBIC::Citizen’s Charter
Complaints And Grievances::

As a responsive and taxpayer-friendly department, we shall have in place the following mechanism:

 We shall promptly acknowledge complaints within 48 hours of receipt and attempt to provide final
replies within 30 working days of their receipt. In case it is not possible to send the final reply within
the time specified, an interim reply shall be furnished to the complainant.
 In case, the complaint is not attended to, within the prescribed time norms or the remedy offered is
not satisfactory, an appeal can be filed with the jurisdictional Commissioner / Chief Commissioner.
 Common complaints and grievances can also be taken up with the Public Grievance Committee,
Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee, Regional Advisory Committee and in the Open House
meetings.

The detailed procedure for complaints handling process can be viewed on the CBIC website
www.cbic.gov.in

Grievance Redressal Officers::

 At the field level: A Public Grievance Officer has been designated in each Commissionerate /
Customs House with whom all complaints and grievances can be taken up. For contact details of the
Commissionerate-wise Public Grievance Officer
 At the Board level: Commissioner (Publicity) has been nominated as the Public Grievance Officer for
the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, whose contact details are indicated below
 Quality Management System (QMS) Sevottam is a generic framework for bringing
continual improvement in public service delivery till excellence is achieved.
 Sevottam word is a fusion of two Hindi words Seva and Uttam which means ‘excellence in
service’
 Citizens Charter is an integral element SERVICE DELIVERY.
 Record Based Audit by
SEVOTTAM ::
Citizens Charter is an integral element of service delivery

 Quality Management System (QMS) Sevottam is a generic framework for bringing continual improvement in
public service delivery till excellence is achieved.
 Sevottam is an administrative measure to improve the quality of public services in India. The
term Sevottam comes from the Hindi words "Seva" and "Uttam" and means excellence in service delivery.
SEVOTTAM symbolizes the Government’s intent to move from ‘administration’ mindset to ‘service
orientation’ in delivery of public services. It is a standardized Service Delivery Excellence Model based on the
Indian Standards – IS 15700:2005 developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which is popularly known as
“SEVOTTAM”.
 The citizen-centric approach includes the following components:
 Citizen Charter and Service Standards - Citizen Charter is the document where a public sector organization
declares its key services along with delivery timelines and requirements.
 Public Grievances - the receipt, redressal and prevention of grievances. In this regard, CBIC adopted
CPGRAMS as grievance redress system. The grievance redress is monitored at various levels to ensure
continued efficacy. Norms of acknowledging complaints within 48 hours of receipt and attempting to provide
final replies within 30 working days.
 The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has developed a model
for benchmarking Excellence in Public Service Delivery through Sevottam. The model
provides the frame work to organizations to assess and improve the quality of service
delivery for the citizens. It involves the identification of the services delivered to the
citizens, quality of service, its objective, improvement of quality, by using innovative
methods for developing business process and more informative with the help of
information technology. The CBDT and Central Board of Excise and Customs are the
biggest departments where this is undertaken.
 Service Delivery Enablers - This includes customer feedback, employee motivation and infrastructure.
In this regard, CBIC Developed service delivery capability at Commissionerate level to meet and sustain
excellence in services. Accordingly in Phase-I four formations were identified by the Core Group /
Implementation Committee in its meeting held on 16th June, 2009 as Pilot Commissionerates for
implementation of Sevottam. BIS awarded the Pilot Commissionerates Sevottam Certificate License No.
CRO/SQSC/L-8000035 as per IS 15700:2005 on 4th November, 2010. These pilot offices are:
 Office of the Directorate General of Inspection as apex office representing the Central Board of Excise
& Customs,
 Office of the Commissioner of Central Excise Delhi-I as unit office for Central Excise revenue system,
 Office of the Commissioner of Import & General Delhi as unit office for Customs revenue stream, and
 Office of Commissioner of Service Tax Delhi as unit office for Service Tax revenue stream.
Convey decision on
matters
Thank You !