NBR issues rules to regulate courier service operation

Doulot Akter Mala | Published: September 12, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Operations of courier companies are coming under strict regulation as per new rules to prevent duty evasion and offences like couriering contrabands.Â Â Â Â
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has framed the rules to bring activity of courier-service companies under customs regulation, officials said. Â
Any act of duty evasion and noncompliance with the customs law incurs penalties, including prohibitive fines. Â
With the rules, they said, courier-service activity came under customs scanner for the first time with the legal framework.
Styled 'The Courier Service (customs assessment) Operation and Licensing Rules 2016', the law is meant for ensuring accountability of mailing operators and courier-service companies to the customs authority.
The Internal Resources Division (IRD) under the Ministry of Finance recently issued the regulations through a gazette, signed by IRD senior secretary and NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman. Â
As per the rules, customs authority can impose maximum Tk 50,000 in penalty on a courier company in case of violation of the rules not related to duty tax evasion.
In case of duty tax evasion, the company might have to pay double the amount of duty, no less than Tk 200,000, of the revenue loss.
However, the courier companies can lodge appeal with the appellate tribunal as per section 196 A of the law within three months of the decision given by the licensing authority.
Courier-service companies have to give a security deposit to the licensing authority. An on-board mailing operator or courier- service company has to give Tk 100,000 and international mailing operator or courier-service company has to provide Tk 200,000 worth of unconditional bank guarantee.
All types of on-board mailing operators and courier-service companies have to pay a non-refundable licence fee of Tk 10,000.
All categories of international mailing operators and courier companies have to pay Tk 25,000 through treasury chalan, bank draft and pay order.
Joint-venture companies or 100 per cent foreign-owned companies have to give bond worth Tk 20 million and 100 per cent local companies have to provide bond valued Tk 5.0 million.
Under the rules, the courier-service companies will have to obtain licence from the customs commissioners of the respective zone for three years. They can renew licence by submitting application with necessary documents 45 days before expiry of the three-year timeframe.
There is a renewal fee ranging from Tk 5,000 to Tk 15,000 that the on-board or international mailing operators and courier- service companies have to pay through treasury chalan.
The licensing authority will have to renew the licence, within 21 days of the application, on the basis of application for next three years.
However, the authority will not permit renewal of the licence if the performance of the company is not satisfactory or in case of violation of any of the provisions of the rules or if its licence already remained suspended for some reasons.
In case of losing the licence, the authority will provide a fresh one on application by the company, charging a fee of Tk 2500.
Customs authority has been empowered with the rules to cancel or suspend licence of courier-service companies under the rules by serving 30 days' show-cause notice.
Licence can be cancelled or suspended in case of violation of any provision of the licensing rules;Â reluctance or lack of skill in discharging duties;Â detection with imported or exported products of their own clients without declaration or over-weighted products; providing any sort of cooperation in duty evasion;Â in case of preparation of fake documents for escaping legal provisions;Â non-renewal of licence in due time; cancellation of licence under 'mailing operator and courier service rules 2013'; misbehaviour with customs officials; any step against public interest; and not discharging duties as defined in the licensing rules.
The rules provide that documents and other products be packed separately at the time of import. For documents, the rules fixed two kilograms as maximum weight.
It gave a clear guideline on acceptance of chalan of imported products, storage, customs assessment and release.
"Counterpart, legal agent or principal of the courier-service company will send the full-house-airway bill or consignment- note information such as: clients and receivers' name and address, product name, description, weight, sender's master airway bill or manifest document with price of the product to the customs computer system through concerned airlines or relevant agents," the rules said.
Customs official's approval will be needed on airway bill or manifest to allow handling agent store the imported product in the bonded warehouse of the courier company and handover to the company.
If any product is lost or damaged by the handling agents before handing over to the relevant courier company, the agent would be responsible and pay duty taxes and other issues. If the product is lost or damaged after handover to the courier company, but before release, Courier Service Company will have to take the responsibility.
The courier-service companies have to maintain a register to keep information of each consignment in the prescribed format of customs.
Imported products will have to go through product scanners and, if necessary, physical examination at the time of entering the bonded warehouse of the courier-service company.
Courier companies will not be permitted to hand over, partially or fully, the product chalan to other courier-service companies or third party, the rules said.
It will keep the customs assessment documents for at least three years. The company will have to send notice to the clients giving details of the products, product-landing date and time, process of product release and other sorts of information just after arrival of the product chalan at the port.
In the rules, the IRD provided four prescribed formats for courier companies to apply for the licence, security deposit, bond completion and customs-assessment licence for products imported by courier companies.
Talking to the FE, a senior customs official said the rules remained stuck under procedural complexities during the last three years.
"It will ensure proper monitoring of the courier businesses and resolve the allegations over carrying illegal and smuggled goods without bill of entry by some of the companies," he said.
Earlier, customs officers seized different kinds of smuggled and import-or export-restricted goods, including fake notes, turtles, drugs, fabrics and gold, from the courier-service companies.
doulot_akter@yahoo.com