Section 116 - Penalty for not accounting for goods

Penalty for not accounting for goods: person-in-charge liable when unloading failures or quantity shortfalls remain unaccounted.

Section 116 imposes liability on the person-in-charge of a conveyance when goods loaded for importation, transhipment, or coastal carriage are not unloaded at their Indian destination or are unloaded in deficient quantity and the shortfall is not accounted for to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Customs. Penalties are pegged to the duty that would have been chargeable on the unaccounted goods, with separate treatment for imported/transhipped goods and for coastal goods.