Sea change in customs clearance as govt addresses complaints over delays

74 per cent of consignments at ports got nod in less than 48 hours on Sunday

In a significant relief for importers, customs clearance saw a dramatic improvement over the weekend with about three-fourths of sea consignments getting the nod in less than 48 hours on Sunday.

This comes after the government swung into action to address complaints from industry over undue delays in clearances since the introduction of faceless assessment by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

About 74 per cent of the sea consignments were cleared in less than 48 hours on Sunday compared with just 27 per cent in the same duration as of Friday, the government data showed.

Air cargo also reported improvement with 81 per cent of it getting cleared in less than 48 hours, compared with 71 per cent as of Friday, according to the Indian Customs Ease of Doing Business Dash (ICEDASH).

ICEDASH is an interactive visual dashboard that enables comparing the time taken for import cargo clearances at various ports and airports.

A consignment cleared within 48 hours blinks green. Those taking more than 48 hours and up to 72 hours show amber, and the ones that take more than 72 hours red.

According to World Bank standards, sea consignments must get cleared within 48 hours and air consignments within 24 hours. India, on average, takes 105 hours for cargo clearance.

According to sources, of the 15,000 bills of entries filed, 923 remained pending as of Monday.

The CBIC has given instructions to assessing officers to avoid raising multiple queries on consignments and has restructured the team of officers based on sectoral expertise in dealing with them.

“The customs department is very closely monitoring the performance of assessing officers. Instructions have been given not to raise multiple queries. Officers will need permission from their immediate seniors in case they need to raise more than one query,” said a government officer.

In the case of air cargo, Chennai was the fastest on Sunday with 94 per cent consignments getting cleared in less than 48 hours, followed by Mumbai at 90 per cent, Bengaluru at 79 per cent, and Delhi at 73 per cent.

A phased rollout of faceless assessment by customs started in June with Bengaluru and Chennai, followed by Mumbai and Delhi in August. It is expected to be rolled out across the country from October 31.

Faceless assessment enables an assessing officer to assess a bill of entry pertaining to imports made at a different Customs station, assigned to him through an automated system.

Some industries facing severe delays are metals; automobiles and auto ancillary; electrical machinery; chemicals; medical equipment, etc.

A delegation of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) met the member (customs) of the CBIC on Monday to take up the matter of delayed import clearances.

FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf said: “The CBIC is now taking action to ensure that there is no pendency. We have told the government that the mindset of officers needed to change. Officers should not be allowed to raise multiple queries. We have been told that the issue has been addressed.”

Meanwhile, concerns related to exports such as container shortage and spike in freight cost continue to hurt exporters.

A FIEO team met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday to apprise him of the challenges faced by exporters.