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The Central Board of Customs and Indirect Taxes (CBIC) has rolled out its the facelless assessment groups (FAGs) and the “Turant Suvidha Kendras” in Bengaluru.
FAGs and the Kendras are part of the reforms in the customs clearance process under the umbrella of ‘Turant Customs’ (immediate customs) scheme, with the objectives of speedy clearance, transparency in decision-making and ease of doing business.
FAGs and the Kendras are located at the Air Cargo Complex (ACC), Bengaluru International Airport; Menzies Aviation Bobba Building, Air cargo complex, Kempegowda International Airport; and ICD, Whitefield.
Faceless initiatives
They will carry out a ‘faceless aseesment’ of imported goods falling under Chapter 84 (Machinery & parts) and Chapter 85 (Electronic goods) at any Customs Station in Chennai or Bengaluru Zones. The Kendras have been set up to facilitate the importers/ customs brokers to submit bonds/bank guarantees; register any scheme scripts, carry out any verification of documents, permit licenses etc.
The scheme includes self-registration of goods by importers; automated clearances of bills of entry; digitisation of customs documents; paperless clearance by eOOC and eGatepass; online amendment of BE facility, etc. All these initiatives are extremely useful to ensure much-needed physical distancing in wake of Covid-19.
The first pilot programme of ‘faceless assessment’ (also called anonymised assessment or virtual assessment) covering articles primarily falling under Chapter 84 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, begun in Chennai on August 14, 2019. Similar pilot programmes were subsequently begun in Customs formations in Delhi, Bengaluru, Gujarat and Visakhapatnam.
Taking into account the lessons learned from these pilots, a consultation paper was placed in the public domain on February 18, 2020 for further comments and feedback. A large number of user inputs were received in response and these have been taken on board for revising the process flow and modalities.
With experience and success with the pilot programmes, CBIC is now ready to launch faceless assessment pan-India.
DP Nagendra Kumar, Principal Chief Commissioner of Central GST, Karnataka, formally inaugurated the FAGs and the Kendras at the ACC & ICD, Customs & Central GST Bhavan, in the presence of major importers of machinery and electronic goods; and the representatives of the Customs Brokers’ Association of Karnataka.
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