Declared transaction value for used telecom equipment must be accepted absent Rule 4 grounds to reject it.

Declared transaction value for used BTS equipment must be accepted for customs assessment where the price is supported by genuine commercial dealings and there is no evidence of extraneous influence. A Chartered Engineer's certificate is only an expert opinion on price reasonableness, and inaccuracies in that certificate or a mismatch in the stated year of manufacture do not by themselves justify rejection of the declared value. In the absence of any specific ground under Rule 4 of the Customs Valuation Rules to discard the transaction value, the assessable value must be based on that declared value even for obsolete used telecom equipment.

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Issues: Whether the declared transaction value of the used BTS equipment was liable to be rejected and enhanced on the basis of the Chartered Engineer's valuation and alleged discrepancy in year of manufacture.

Analysis: The declared price between the parties was supported by commercial dealings and there was no evidence that the transaction was influenced by extraneous considerations. The Chartered Engineer's certificate was only an expert opinion on reasonableness of price, and inaccuracies in that certificate could not by themselves justify rejection of the transaction value, particularly when the record showed a steep fall in the price of telecom equipment and the model had become obsolete. In the absence of any specific ground under Rule 4 of the Customs Valuation Rules to discard the declared value, the assessable value had to be based on the transaction value even for used goods.

Conclusion: The enhancement of value was unjustified and the declared transaction value was required to be accepted for assessment.

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