Water (Prevention and Control Of Pollution) Cess Act,1977, Assessment Of Cess

 

Water (Prevention and Control Of Pollution) Cess Act,1977, Assessment Of Cess

An Act to provide for the levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by persons carrying on certain industries and by local authorities, with a view to argument the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution constituted under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

"To augment the resources of the CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution constituted under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. "

The Government of India have enacted the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 (Act No.36 of 1977) and enforced the Act from 01.04.78 with rules thereunder. This Act and the Rules framed thereunder were published in the Government of India Gazette (Extra-ordinary) dt.27.03.1978 and dt. 24.07.1978 respectively

According to Section 3(2) (a) of the Act and the Rules issued thereunder, every person carrying on any industry specified in Schedule-I of the Act shall pay the Cess to the Government of India, based on the water being consumed (including supply of water) for any of the purposes at the rates shown against each as mentioned below in Table-I as per notification dated 23.08.1978.

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Table-I (from 01.04.1978 to 31.01.1992

S.NO	PURPOSE	RATE
1	Industrial Cooling, Spraying in mine pits or boiler feed.	Three fourths of a paise per kilo litre
2	Domestic purpose	One paise per kilo litre
3	Processing whereby water gets polluted and the pollutants are easily bio-degradable.	Two paise per kilo litre.
4	Processing whereby water gets polluted and the pollutants are not easily bio-degradable.	Two and a half paise per kilo litre.

Subsequently, the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 was amended vide notification No.53 of 1991 dated 16.12.91 and the rates were revised as per the Table-II given below

Table II (From 01.02.1992 to till date)

S.NO	PURPOSE FOR WHICH WATER IS CONSUMED	RATE UNDER SUB-SECTION (2) OF SECTION 3	RATE UNDER SUB-SECTION(2A) OF SECTION 3
1	Industrial cooling, spraying in mine pits or boiler feeds	One and a half paise per kilo litre.	Two and one-fourth paise per kilo litre.
2	Domestic purpose	Two paise per kilo litre	Three paise per kilo litre
3	Processing whereby water gets polluted and the pollutants are easily bio-degradable.	Four paise per kilo litre.	Seven and a half paise per kilo litre.
4	Processing whereby water gets polluted and the pollutants are not easily bio-degradable.	Five paise per kilo litre.	Nine and a half paise per kilo litre.

3)The Member Secretary is the assessing and collection authority of the Water Cess under the above Act. As per Section (5) of the Act, you have to furnish the returns indicating the quantity of water consumed under different categories in the enclosed proforma. It is also to inform you that the Cess is payable on The total quantity of water consumed is drawn not only from any public source but also from your own private source situated within the premises of your industry i.e., from wells, bore wells and any other source.

4)As per Section (7) of the Amendment Act, 1991 and the Rules issued thereunder, if any plant for the treatment of sewage or trade effluent is installed in any Industry/Local Authority, a rebate of twenty five percent of the Cess payable is admissible provided they complies with the following

1. Shall not consume water in excess of the maximum quantity as may be prescribed in this behalf
2. Shall comply with all the provisions of Section (25) of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974) or all the standards laid down by the Central Government under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986).

Therefore, if the rebate is proposed to be claimed by you for the period, you may have to furnish the information contained in annexure to the returns, i.e., containing the report of analysis of treated effluent, duly enclosing the original Analysis report for the period asked for, from the laboratory established as per the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board / Ministry of Environment and forests, Government of India.

5) Basing on the returns furnished by you, an assessment order will be issued by the Member Secretary, A.P.Pollution Control Board, intimating the amount of Cess payable and the time within which it has to be remitted. It is also to inform that, if you choose to prefer to file an appeal on the Assessment order, you may do so within thirty days from the date of communication of the assessment order. The appeal should be preferred in the form prescribed in rule (9) of the rules issued under the Act, and is to be addressed to the Chairman, A.P.Pollution Control Board. The appeal should be accompanied with a Crossed Demand Draft for Rs.50/- obtained in the name of the Member Secretary, A.P.Pollution Control Board, payable at Hyderabad, towards the fees for appeal

6) According to Section (10) of the Act, if the Cess amount is not paid within the specified date mentioned in the Assessment order, an interest will be levied by the Board on the amount to be paid at the rate of two percent per month or part of a month, calculated from the due date of payment till the date of actual payment. If you fail to remit the Cess amount together with interest, there is also a provision under Section (11) of the Act, for levying a penalty.

7) It is to further state that Section (14) of the Act provides for taking legal action against you in cases of (i) failure to furnish the return (ii) for furnishing false returns & (iii) for evasion or attempted evasion of payment of Cess.

8) It is therefore, requested to furnish the returns in the proforma (Form-I) indicating the quantity of water consumed in your industry either from 01.04.1978 or from the date of commencement of production in your industry whichever is later. The returns may be sent year-wise for the year’s upto 2001-2002 and monthly returns for the months from April, 2002 onwards.

9) While requesting you to acknowledge the receipt of this letter, I request you to send the returns expeditiously.
Encl. One return with Annexure.