(1) No excisable goods shall be removed from a factory or a warehouse except under an invoice signed by the owner of the factory or his authorised agent and in the case of cigarettes, each such invoice shall also be countersigned by the Inspector of Central Excise or the Superintendent of Central Excise before the cigarettes are removed from the factory.

(2) The invoice shall be serially numbered and shall contain the registration number, address of the concerned Central Excise division, name of the consignee, description, classification, time and date of removal, mode of transport and vehicle registration number, rate of duty, quantity and value, of goods and the duty payable thereon:

Provided that in case of a proprietary concern or a business owned by Hindu Undivided Family, the name of the proprietor or Hindu Undivided Family, as the case may be, shall also be mentioned in the invoice:

Provided further that if goods are directly sent to a job worker on the direction of a manufacturer, the invoice shall also contain the details of the manufacturer as buyer and contain the details of job worker as the consignee:

Provided also that if the goods are directly sent to any person on the direction of the registered dealer, the invoice shall also contain the details of the registered dealer as the buyer and the person as the consignee, and that person shall take CENVAT credit on the basis of the registered dealer's invoice:

Provided also that if the goods imported under the cover of a bill of entry are sent directly to buyer's premises, the invoice issued by the importer shall mention that goods are sent directly from the place or port of import to the buyer's premises.

(3) The invoice shall be prepared in triplicate in the following manner, namely:-

(i) the original copy being marked as ORIGINAL FOR BUYER;

(ii) the duplicate copy being marked as DUPLICATE FOR TRANSPORTER;

(iii) the triplicate copy being marked as TRIPLICATE FOR ASSESSEE.

(4) Only one copy of invoice book shall be in use at a time, unless otherwise allowed by the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, in the special facts and circumstances of each case.

(5) Before making use of the invoice book, the serial numbers of the same shall be intimated to the Superintendent of Central Excise having jurisdiction.

(6) The provisions of this rule shall apply mutatis mutandis to goods supplied by an importer who issues an invoice on which CENVAT credit can be taken, or a first stage dealer or a second stage dealer:

Provided that in case of the first stage dealer receiving imported goods under an invoice bearing an indication that the credit of additional duty of customs levied on the said goods under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) shall not be admissible, the said dealer shall on the resale of the said imported goods, indicate on the invoice issued by him that no credit of the additional duty levied under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) shall be admissible:

Provided further that in case of the second stage dealer receiving imported goods under an invoice bearing an indication that the credit of additional duty of customs levied on the said goods under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) shall not be admissible, the said dealer shall on the resale of such imported goods, indicate on the invoice issued by him that no credit of the additional duty levied under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) shall be admissible.

(7) An invoice issued under this rule by a manufacturer may be authenticated by means of a digital signature:

Provided that where the duplicate copy of the invoice meant for transporter is digitally signed, a hard copy of the duplicate copy of the invoice meant for transporter shall be used for transport of goods.

(8) The Board may, by notification, specify the conditions, safeguards and procedure to be followed by an assessee using digitally signed invoice.

Explanation. - For the purposes of these rules, first stage dealer and second stage dealer shall have the meanings assigned to them in CENVAT Credit Rules, 2017.