The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Thursday announced waived interest on Customs duty payable through the Electronic Cash Ledger (ECL) between April 1-10. The relief for traders came after complaints over system glitches faced by EXIM traders in paying import duty through the automated payment system that went live on April 1.
"In order to alleviate burden of EXIM Trade, owing to pending resolution of duty payment issues on customs portal, CBIC has waived interest on duty payable in respect of goods where payment is to be made from ECL from April 1 to April 10," CBIC said in its order.
The upgraded Customs duty payments system was launched by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) earlier this month, however, traders complained about the difficulties in making duty payments.
“The trade has, in a large number of cases, faced the difficulty of being unable to complete the process whereby accounting is made in the duty payment process initiated by them because of unanticipated technical difficulties on the Common Portal and with the authorised banks...as a result...the interest is arising,” the CBIC said in a notification.
CBIC in its Customs (Waiver of Interest) Order, 2023, said in respect of the Bills of Entry for which import duty payment has already occurred and integrated into ICES during the said period, traders can claim a refund of interest.
CBIC has also permitted a manual clearance of consignments for perishable commodities, pharmaceuticals, liquid bulk cargo, among other things, to promote an uninterrupted supply of goods. This means that such shipments can be cleared if the importer presents a certificate from a bank attesting to the payment of import duties.
Additionally, the CBIC has requested shipping lines to waive detention and demurrage fees until April 10 in order to accommodate importers who are unable to clear their goods at the ports.