ICICI Prudential gets over Rs 130 crore tax notice

The Finance Ministry has asked private sector insurer ICICI Prudential to pay more than Rs 130 crore for alleged evasion of service tax.

The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) recently issued a showcause-cum-demand-notice recently to the firm, alleging irregularities including the fudging of records of commission paid to field agents or channel partners in lieu of policies being sold by them among others, official sources said.

Officials of the DGCEI, an investigative arm of Revenue Department under the Finance Ministry, verified the accounts of the company for the last five years--2007-08 to 2011-12-and claimed to have found the irregularities.

"The DGCEI has raised a demand for payment of about Rs 136 crore on account of alleged service tax evasion to ICICI prudential," a source said.

An ICICI Prudential spokesperson said the company will respond to the notice issued to it.

"The department has followed procedures by issuing the showcause notice. We will respond to the notice within the stipulated time period," a company spokesperson told PTI in an e-mail.