Page 4 - Customs

CBIC cautions public to stay alert against frauds in name of Indian Customs

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Sunday asked public to stay alert and discern the modus operandi of fraudsters committing fraud in the name of Indian customs. In a statement, the CBIC said various incidents have come to light through news portals/social media platforms of fraudulent persons posing as Indian Customs officers cheating the public of their hard-earned money across the country. These frauds are primarily done using digital means like phone calls or SMS, and are focused on extracting money through the 'purported' fear of immediate penal actions. In order to counter these frauds through public awareness, CBIC is mounting a multi-modal awareness campaign that includes newspaper advertisement, SMS/e-mails to the general public, social media campaign, besides awareness campaigns by CBIC field formations. The CBIC also advised the public to take measures to safeguard themselves from becoming a victim of such scams by discerning the modus operandi of

Delhi Customs detains Shashi Tharoor's aide in alleged gold smuggling case

A passenger travelling from Dubai attempted to deliver over 500 gms of gold to Tharoor's aide at Delhi International Airport. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor respond

7 held by HK customs for $1.8 bn money laundering case linked to India

At least seven persons were arrested by Hong Kong customs authorities on Friday in connection with the territory's biggest money-laundering case involving a whopping HKD 14 billion (USD 1.8 billion) some of it was linked to a mobile app scam case in India. The syndicate used stooge bank accounts and shell companies to transfer the largest amount linked to a single case recorded in the city, the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong said. The operation was linked to a mobile app scam in India and two jewellery companies in the country, which allegedly handled about HKD2.9 billion (USD 371 million) of the funds, Suzette Ip Tung-ching, the head of customs' financial investigation bureau told the media in Hong Kong. Ip described the amounts laundered as astonishing with one of the accounts receiving as much as HKD100 million (USD 12.8 million) a day and carrying out as many as 50 daily transactions. Some of those arrested were non-Chinese residents of Hong Kong, she said without .

Customs 2.0 in offing, to provide fully automated stakeholder service: Govt

Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Saturday said the customs department is developing a fully automated trade interface system, Customs 2.0, which would also help in improving its score in the World Bank's ranking. Speaking on the International Customs Day 2024 celebrations, organised by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Malhotra said technology is going to be the main driver in improving customs processes. The World Bank's Logistics Performance Index 2023, which was released in April last year, had ranked Customs processes at 47th spot, down from 40th position in 2018. "India is on course to become the third largest economy surpassing GDP of USD 5 trillion. Yet we are ranked 47th out of 139 countries in the World Bank report'. There is a huge scope for improvement for us not only in terms of score but also in terms of ranking, Malhotra said. He said the systems division in Customs is preparing for a Customs 2.0 to ensure that all processes in customs and wi

Gautam Singhania's JK Investors pays Rs 328 cr penalty in customs case

The DRI accused Raymond Group CMD Gautam Singhania of evading custom duties on the import of 142 vehicles, including 138 vintage cars

India, Hong Kong customs dept unearth trade-based money laundering case

The Indian and Hong Kong Customs have unearthed a major case of Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) involving Hong Kong-based exporters and Indian importers located in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the finance ministry said on Friday. In an exemplary case of bilateral cooperation and exchange of information, this crackdown showcases investigation and enforcement actions taken by both administrations under their respective laws to expose an international cartel. DRI had unearthed a case of Trade-Based Money Laundering from a SEZ, wherein cheap synthetic diamonds were being imported into India in the guise of natural diamonds, to remit foreign currency out of India. Investigations revealed that cheap synthetic diamonds were being mis-declared as natural diamonds and overvalued more than 100 times and being imported from firms based in Hong Kong to SEZ in India. During the investigation, it was also observed that some real diamonds were imported but replaced with synthetic diamonds a

Gujarat police to coordinate with passengers who returned from France

The Gujarat Police have formed teams to unearth a suspected illegal immigration network involving "agents" and will coordinate with the passengers of a plane that has landed in Mumbai from France, a senior official said. Many passengers of the plane hail from Gujarat, he said. The aircraft, an Airbus A340, carrying 276 passengers, mostly Indians, was grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking. It landed in Mumbai in the wee hours on Tuesday. "The CID crime wants to take action against agents who had promised help to the victims to enter the US and other countries (illegally). We have formed four teams which will get information from the victims regarding promises made to them by these agents," Superintendent of Police, CID (Crime), Sanjay Kharat said. He said most of the passengers on the chartered plane that returned from France were from Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana and Anand districts in Gujarat. "Police will coordinate with the passengers when they reach

Chennai tribunal gives split verdict over GST on salaries to expats

The issue dealt with by Cestat was limited to the question of valuation and arriving at the taxable value and not the taxability of the transaction

Centre says certain onion consignments can be exported till Nov 30

The government on Thursday clarified onion consignments that have been handed over to the customs authorities and are registered in their systems before October 29 can be exported till November 30. On October 28, the government imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of USD 800 per tonne on onion exports till December 31 this year with a view to increase availability of the vegetable in the domestic market and to contain prices. "Where onion consignment has been handed over to the customs before October 29, 2023... and is registered in their system/ where onions consignment has entered the customs station for exportation before this notification and is registered in the electronic systems of the concerned custodian of the customs station with verifiable evidence of date and time stamping of these commodities having entered the station prior to October 29. "The period of export shall be up to November 30 this year," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said. It added that th

WCO-IAPH guidelines for customs, ports released

The WCO is an intergovernmental organization of 185 member countries, whose customs administrations process over 98 per cent of international trade

Illicit goods worth over Rs 1,000 cr seized ahead of Rajasthan elections

In the last 15 days, agencies seized Rs 244 crore in cash and various illegal items along with freebies and other items worth Rs 84.22 crore

CAG asks FinMin to put in place online Customs refund system for efficiency

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has asked the Finance Ministry to consider having an online system for processing customs refunds along the lines of the GSTN system to make it more efficient. The official auditor has also flagged "inordinate delays" in the implementation of the module for daily updation of exchange rate and asked to make the system operational at the earliest. Under the Customs Act, refunds can be claimed in cases where the imported goods are found to be defective or not in conformity with the specification agreed upon, when the goods are exported after payment of the export duty/cess and the exported goods are returned to the exporter. A refund can also be claimed by a person who has paid duty on assessment of imported goods and applies for refund of duty consequent on remission /abatement of duty due to pilferage/damage of goods. "The Ministry may consider having an online workflow for capturing and processing refunds on the lines of the GSTN System so

CHATROOM: 'Customs should reveal method used to fix value of export goods'

Rule 1.1 of the FEDAI Rules, 2019 says that the normal working hours of ADs for foreign currency to Indian rupee transactions for clients is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all days, except Saturdays, Sundays

CBIC redefining NAC role to make Customs assessment more efficient: Johri

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is redefining the role of National Assessment Centres (NACs) to make faceless assessment in Customs more efficient, its chief Vivek Johri said on Friday. The CBIC in September last year launched the risk-based faceless assessment system in phases for clearance of imported consignments. For this, 11 Customs Commissionerates were partially re-organised commodity wise as NACs, with pan-India jurisdiction. Addressing the CII National Conference on Trade Facilitation, Johri said there are gaps in Customs faceless assessment and the department is looking at them. "We are on the drawing board to redefine the role of NACs to rationalise the whole process and make it more efficient," he said. The CBIC has already reduced the number of NACs from 11 to 8 to promote specialisation and make them strong. "We are trying to reactivate them and make them strong, and ensure that there is least divergence of practice in assessment which continue

India, US working to 'quickly conclude' pact for faster customs clearances

India and the US are working to 'quickly conclude' the mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for authorised economic operators of both countries to expedite customs clearances, CBIC Chief Vivek Johri said on Friday. The two countries in September 2021 entered into anA to recognise the AEOs of both countries. The AEO programme enables Customs administration to identify safe and compliant exporters and importers and to provide them with better facilitation. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a CII event, Johri said the customs authorities of India and the US had discussions to recognise the AEOs of both countries and give reciprocal benefits. As part of the agreement, customs authorities of one country visit the other and evaluate their AEO programme and make sure that the features that are there for accrediting an entity as an AEO are strong enough to make the entity risk-free. That evaluation has already been done, and the language and the text of the agreement have also been ..

Customs clearance time for imports drops 11% at air cargo complexes

The average time taken for customs clearance of imports has dropped 11 per cent at air cargo complexes and 9 per cent across seaports, a CBIC study showed on Thursday. The National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2023, presents the average cargo release time for seaports, air cargo complexes (ACCs), inland container depots (ICDs) and integrated check posts (ICPs), which account for approximately 80 per cent of bills of entry and 70 per cent of shipping bills filed in the country. "The average import release time has continued to improve, achieving 20 per cent reduction in release time for ICDs; 11 per cent reduction for ACCs; and 9 per cent reduction for seaports in 2023 over 2022," the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) statement said. In absolute terms, the import release time for seaports, ICDs, ACC and ICPs is 85:42 hrs, 71:46 hrs, 44:16 hrs and 31:47 hrs, respectively. The Time Release Study measures the time taken from the arrival of the cargo at the Customs station

CBIC rolls out module for automated scrutiny of GST returns of taxpayers

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has rolled out a module for automated scrutiny of GST returns. This module will enable the officers to carry out scrutiny of GST returns of Centre Administered Taxpayers selected on the basis of data analytics and risks identified by the System, the finance ministry said in a statement. In the module, discrepancies on account of risks associated with a return are displayed to the tax officers. Tax officers are provided with a workflow for interacting with the taxpayers through the GSTN Common Portal for communication of discrepancies noticed. Implementation of this Automated Return Scrutiny Module has commenced with the scrutiny of GST returns for FY 2019-20, and the requisite data for the purpose has already been made available on the officers' dashboard, the statement added.

Chatroom: Replacement part can be imported under EPCG scheme for spares

There is no stipulation that a free replacement must come only after re-export of the wrong shipment

Chatroom: 'Seller and buyer can agree to deviate from Incoterms'

Under the Customs laws, you are required to declare the transaction value, i.e., the price paid or payable for the goods

'In CIF/CFR contracts, the seller bears risk of variation in freight rates'

'As long as you expect to realise the CIF/CFR value of the goods and declare it correctly in your shipping bill/EDF, there is no violation under FEMA'