Explore Business Standard
Customs
The Customs department at the Kempegowda International Airport on Friday issued a high alert for the public after detecting a fraud racket in which impostors posing as Customs officials are cheating people and extorting money from them. According to the Customs, fraudsters are targeting innocent citizens, particularly those from the economically weaker sections, by exploiting their fear and urgency through phone calls, social media and messaging platforms. The scammers falsely claim that a passenger arriving from abroad has been detained by Customs and demand immediate payment to resolve the issue. Warning the public against falling prey to such tactics, the Customs commissioner said, Customs officials never contact people via phone, WhatsApp, or social media to demand payments of fines or penalties. Moreover, we do not accept money into personal bank accounts. All official payments to the government are made only through authorised counters or online portals with proper ...
The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the Customs department on a plea by InterGlobe Aviation, which operates the IndiGo airline, seeking a refund of more than Rs 900 crore paid as Customs duty on aircraft engines and parts re-imported into India after overseas repairs. A bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar issued the notice to the deputy commissioner (refund), office of the principal commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex (Import), and asked the authorities to file a counter affidavit within two weeks. The court listed the matter for next hearing on April 8, 2026. InterGlobe, in its plea, contended that the levy of Customs duty on such re-imports was unconstitutional and amounted to double levy on the same transaction. The counsel for the Customs opposed the plea, claiming it is pre-mature and that the issue based on which the present claim has been filed is pending before the Supreme Court. The counsel said the Supreme Court has not passed any st
Ahead of Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the simplification of customs would be the next big reform agenda for the government. During the current financial year, the government undertook reforms such as rate rationalisation and simplification of the income tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST) in a bid to boost consumption by providing more cash in the hands of the common man. "We need a complete overhaul of customs... we need to have customs simplified for people to feel that it is not cumbersome to comply... need to make it more transparent," Sitharaman said while speaking at the HT Leadership Summit here. There is a need to bring the virtues of income tax to the customs side in terms of transparency, she said, adding that the proposed reforms will be comprehensive and entail customs duty rate rationalisation. The announcements to this effect can be made in the upcoming Budget, likely to be presented on February 1. "We have brought down customs d
The duty free import authorization (DFIA) scheme, aimed at cutting input costs for exporters, is being misused by some companies, and it has turned into a "licence to loot" owing to a mix of vague policy definitions, lax enforcement, and judicial interpretations, economic think tank GTRI said on Sunday. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that the government should immediately intervene because if unchecked, DFIA misuse will destroy faith in India's export incentive regime and drive honest exporters out of business. A forensic audit of licences issued in the past five years is urgently needed, alongside recovery of duties from fraudulent imports, it said. When asked about the issue, the commerce ministry said that in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), there is a permanent mechanism of norms committees across sectors for looking into complaints of misuse of SION (standard input output norms) and misdeclaration of inputs used. "It is also being proposed tha
The Trump administration lashed out Monday against New York City officials over their sanctuary policies as authorities arrested a second man living in the country illegally in connection with the shooting of an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called the two suspects, both from the Dominican Republic, scum of the earth. She said they'd accumulated lengthy criminal records in just a few years and should have never been free to commit Saturday's robbery-gone-wrong in a Manhattan park. Noem blamed the mayor and city council, nearly all Democrats, saying the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so. Border czar Tom Homan, meanwhile, vowed the administration would flood the zone with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following the shooting. So sanctuary cities get exactly what they don't want: more agents in the community, he said alongside Noem and other officials during a news .