Customs
A few interesting bits from the CAG’s report on Customs.
• What happens to the Customs duties? Duty foregone under export promotion schemes has gone up from 43 per cent of customs duty receipts in 2000-2001 to 82 per cent of customs receipts in 2003-2004.
• Cost of collection is 1% - As in excise, AG has no objection to the low cost of collection.
• Customs revenue of Rs 2400 crore remained unprotected against risk of loss, pilferage etc. due to non/deficient execution of bond/bank guarantee (BG) by custodians for storage of import cargo, by carriers for transhipment of export cargo, non renewal of BG, and insufficient insurance coverage of goods at ICD/container freight station (CFS).
• Delay in disposal of unclaimed/un-cleared and confiscated goods and injudicious decision of custodian caused loss of Rs 2.96 crore.
• Confiscated goods – rent – 12.41 Crores; sale proceeds – 1.20 crores – Customs officers are no good businessmen. - Non-disposal of confiscated goods is a dual liability of Government, on the one hand rent is incurred, on the other quality deterioration leaves little scope of realisation of appropriate revenue. Audit scrutiny of records of four ICDs in four Commissionerates revealed that against the rent liability of Rs.12.41 crore the Department could realise only Rs.1.20 crore as sale proceeds of confiscated goods. This resulted in loss of revenue to the extent of Rs.11.21 crore.
• Injudicious expenditure on furniture - Board’s circular dated 14 December 1995, stipulated that the custodian would provide free furnished office space at each ICD for departmental officers. It was, however, noticed that contrary to the above instructions, the Department incurred expenditure of Rs.11.27 lakh at ICD, TKD (Delhi) during 2000-01 to 2002-03 on purchase of furniture from their own budget, which was not claimed from custodian. Similarly, in Bangalore Commissionerate the Department incurred expenditure of Rs. 5.70 lakh on electrification and furnishings in ICD without claiming it from custodian.