Penalty for late filling of tds return

CA. Mandar Kale (CA Practice ) (51 Points)

24 January 2014  
Hello Professionals, There is a penalty of rs. 200 per day for late filling of TDS Returns, max upto the amount of TDS in the concerned return. My query is, is the amount of penalty a discretionary in nature i.e. can the opportunity of being heared be offered to assessee and the amount of penalty can be reduced or not. please share your thought. thanking you.