Customs - Licence for Bonded Warehouse - Board Prescribes Form
IT looks like the Board has a felt a need to review the process of application for a warehouse licence and the form used for the same. For the purpose of certainty in providing information by applicants and transparency in procedure regarding processing of applications, the Board has prescribed the Form to be used by an applicant seeking a licence for a bonded warehouse.
This application form has been prescribed for use by applicants for new warehouses to be licensed and is not required to be filed by existing licensees covered under the transitional provisions.
Board informs:
1. The form has been designed in a manner so as to also serve as a checklist for obtaining information relevant for evaluation of the applicant at one go and ascertaining the facilities for security of goods available at the proposed site.
2. This information is expected to enable a comprehensive assessment of the applicant and of the premises by the licensing authority. However, it may be borne in mind that warehouses vary widely in characteristics and type of goods stored. Absence of certain features (for example,absence of CCTVs or burglar alarms in case of certain types of sites) shall be acceptable in some situations. It is, therefore, expected that the Licensing authorities shall exercise their good judgement viz. a viz. the security features installed by the licensee by keeping in mind the type of site and nature of goods proposed to be stored.
3. The prescribed application form should be made available on the website of the Commissionerates for the ease of reference by trade.
4. The Board has desired that all Commissionerates shall undertake to examine and complete the process of granting a licence within 30 days of the receipt of the application. The Bond officer must complete the process of examining the application, visiting the premises to be licensed and submitting his report to the Principal Commissioner / Commissioner within 15 days of the receipt of the application. The approval or rejection of the application by the Licensing Authority (Principal Commissioner / Commissioner) should be completed within the next 15days.
5. The Board has taken cognizance of the fact that in the absence of standard operating procedures for antecedent verification of the applicant, varied practices have been followed by Commissionerates. In some Commissionerates, verification is conducted by limiting inquiries to their jurisdiction, while in others, references are made across jurisdictions. The delays in receiving responses from formations to whom references are made for verification often leads to applications being kept pending for long periods. In view of the Government's emphasis on a trust based tax administration, it has been decided to incorporate relevant declarations required from the applicant, in the form itself, on the basis of which the application for a license can be processed. With specific regard to serial number 5 of the “Declaration” in the application form, a system of post verification can be followed. It is also proposed that a centralized system of verification be followed by referring the name of the applicant and Directors/Partners/Proprietor to DRI (HQ) and DGCEI (HQ) for checking antecedents and the existence of any past cases, instead of referring to all formations. This system will ensure that adhering to time limits in processing of applications becomes feasible.
6. The License granted under the regulations shall remain valid till its surrender /cancellation. Henceforth, there shall be no requirement for renewal of warehousing license on annual basis.
7. Since the licensee is required to renew the insurance policy annually and continue to comply with solvency conditions (as applicable), the same shall be required to be submitted annually.
CBEC Circular No.26/2016-Customs., Dated June 09, 2016