Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC):

(a) Introduction: Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is a statutory board constituted under the statute-the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 and is subordinate to the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

The Board is the administrative authority for its subordinate organizations, including Custom Houses, Central Excise Commissionerates and the Central Revenues Control Laboratory.

(b) Role of CBEC: It deals mainly with the tasks of formulation and implementation of policy concerning to the levy and collection of customs and central excise duties and service tax, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax and Narcotics to the extent under CBEC’s purview.

(c) Recruitment to the Customs and Excise Department: Recruitment to the Customs and Excise Department is through the Indian Revenue Service. The successful candidates in the Civil Service examinations are required to choose between the direct and indirect tax streams.

(d) Chairman and members of the Board: The Board consists of a Chairman and other members. The Chairman is the first among equals. The Chairman and the Members are currently of the rank of ex-officio Additional Secretaries to the Government of India.