New Delhi, July 24: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has abolished the requirement of periodic renewal of licence and registration issued to Customs Brokers and Authorised Carriers.
This move is expected to help reduce the compliance burden cast on the trade, which had to otherwise file applications and submit numerous documents to renew their licences/registrations. The changes have been made effective from July 23, 2021. The net effect of the amendments carried out to the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 and Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018, is that the existing licenses/registration would have a lifetime validity.
Another change that has been introduced is to allow a licensee/registration holder to voluntarily come forward to surrender his licence/registration. Also, a provision has been made to invalidate licences/registrations that are inactive for more than a year. These steps would prevent misuse of dormant licences/registrations by unscrupulous persons who mis-declare import or export or wrongly obtain export refunds/incentives and when caught, put the burden on the original licensee/registration holder, a Finance Ministry statement said.