Budget for more power to customs officers, industry fears misuse

NEW DELHI: While the government, on one hand, claims to ensure ease of doing business, the Budget proposal authorizing customs officers to detain a person for verification in the interest of revenue or for preventing smuggling has serious scope for misuse.
Such persons would be required to undergo authentication and an enabling provision has been proposed in the Budget. They would be required to produce their Aadhaar or other relevant documents. Incorrect information or documents could invite penal actions such as holding of refund or suspension of registration given under the Customs Act.
“We want to tell the government that this provision could be misused and the small industry is not comfortable with it. This is not a good step,” said Animesh Saxena, President of the Federation of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME).
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that recent trends revealed that certain bogus entities were resorting to unfair practices to avail undue concessions and export incentives.
“While we have intensified our efforts against such nefarious activities, provisions are being incorporated in the Act for enhanced penalty and prosecution for such offences,” she said.
As per the proposed change in the Customs Act, misuse of duty-free scrips and drawback facility involving more than Rs 50 lakh will be a cognizable and non-bailable offence.