E-payment of customs duty mandatory

To reduce the transaction costs of importers and expedite time taken for customs clearance, the Central Board of Excise & Customs has decided to make e-payment of duty mandatory for importers paying Rs 1 lakh or more per transaction. The date will be notified separately. For those under the Customs Accredited Client Programme, irrespective of any amount of duty, the customs duty will have to be through e-payment only. E-payment at Customs locations was introduced in 2007 and is available through more than one authorised bank at all major locations having Indian Customs EDI System facility. Though voluntary, the facility has been made use of by numerous importers. Besides expediting the process of payment of duty and clearance of imported goods, it has resulted in less transaction costs, CBEC said in a circular.