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Raja Simhan T.E.

Chennai , Dec. 8

THE Chennai Custom House (CCH) has pioneered auction of uncleared and confiscated goods over the Internet to widen the pool of potential buyers.

The e-auction is to speed up disposal of such goods and eliminate unnecessary travel by potential bidders from other parts of the country to the city to take part in physical auctions. The Internet auction will be held in www.chennaicustoms.org every month.

The CCH is the first Custom House in the country to start an e-auction of uncleared/confiscated cargo on its own. The Mumbai Port Trust has been doing Internet auction but through a third party, a CCH official said.

E-auction will supplement the physical auction conducted by the department every month. However, if e-auction gains preference with the trade, the physical auction could reduce in the long run, he said.

At each auction, uncleared/confiscated goods including machinery, chemicals, fabrics, scrap and cars worth Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore are up for sale. The goods are left uncleared at the Chennai port or at various Customs bonded warehouses by consignees who do not take possession of the cargo due to paucity of funds or not having the need for it. Some consignees just vanish out of business leaving behind the cargo. Confiscation of goods on the other hand is non-payment of Custom duty or could be smuggled, he said. The CCH earns annually Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore from auction, he said.

To take part in an e-auction, a person should first register with CCH by paying Rs 5,000 — Rs 4,900 is refundable at any time on request for cancellation of registration.

In the bidding process, which begins and ends at a pre-fixed timing (published in advance in newspapers), a bidder can keep increasing his bid. Alternatively, the bidder can opt for auto-bidding by which an applicant can register the highest amount he is willing to pay and also the incremental value (minimum of Rs 100) by which he would like the system to increment other/competitive bids. The system will register his bid and automatically increment the other bids as and when they are placed till the highest bid indicated by him is reached.

There is also option to put in a sealed tender on the Internet auction. A bidder for each lot can exercise this option during the auction period, the official said.

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