Exemption from late filing charges for Bills of Entry due to electronic filing failures; waivers subject to evidence and discretion.
Exemption granted for late presentation charges where electronic portal failures prevented timely filing of Bills of Entry; affected consignments within the specified entry and filing date ranges will receive waivers handled by the respective Deputy/Assistant Commissioners. For filings delayed after the specified period due to continued portal acknowledgement failures, Customs will consider waiver requests on merits upon submission of evidence of attempted filing such as job numbers, screenshots, or portal messages.

eSANCHIT paperless processing requires PGAs to upload LPCOs; beneficiary uploads disabled from 01/08/2019 via ICEGATE registration
eSANCHIT will require Participating Government Agencies to upload digitally signed Licenses, Permits, Certificates and Other Authorisations to ICES via SWIFT/ICEGATE; beneficiary self-uploading of previously issued LPCOs is deactivated from 01/08/2019. Sixteen additional PGAs are onboarded, PGAs must upload LPCOs issued in the 15 days before the cut-off (and may upload earlier LPCOs), and beneficiaries must ensure correct email registration on ICEGATE for IRN communication.

Clearance of goods subject to pending litigation requires maintenance of shipment details and notification to exporters and importers.
Clearance of persulphates consignments is to proceed subject to the final outcome of the pending Special Civil Application; details of goods cleared must be maintained and exporters and importers informed of the litigation, and customs officers are directed to follow the High Court order and related tariff unit instructions until the petition is finally resolved.

IGST refund on exports: rectify SB001-SB005 and GSTIN/EGM mismatches and submit required GST reconciliations to claim refund.
Refund of IGST on exports requires Shipping Bills to migrate from IGST temporary scroll to final scroll; exporters must rectify EGM/Stuffing errors (SB002), Invalid Invoice errors (SB005), GSTIN mismatches (SB003) and Shipping Bill detail errors (SB001) listed in annexures. Exporters must submit self certified GSTR 1/Table 6A, GSTR 3B and concordance tables per Circulars 05/2018 and 08/2018; file a Revised Refund Request for differential IGST where applicable. Manual officer processing for SB003, SB005 and supplementary refunds is limited to Shipping Bills filed up to 15.11.2018. HELP DESK and IGST Refund Cell contact details provided.

24x7 Direct Port Delivery by rail to Balmer Lawrie CFS allowed within 48-72 hours; monthly reporting required.
24x7 Direct Port Delivery/Direct Port Entry rail removal to Balmer Lawrie CFS is permitted within 48 hours of landing on request or agreement by eligible importers, subject to Out of Charge being taken within 48 hours (extendable to a maximum of 72 hours) from entry inwards. Balmer Lawrie CFS must submit a monthly performance report in the prescribed proforma (Annexure A). The earlier Public Notice is modified only to this extent.

Exemption from late filing charges for bills of entry where portal failures prevented timely filing, subject to documentation and review.
Late-filing charges for Bills of Entry impacted by e-Sanchit/ICEGATE technical failures are waived for consignments within the specified failure period, with waivers to be processed by the Additional/Joint Commissioner; delayed filings after that period require evidence of attempted submission (job numbers, screenshots, ICEGATE messages) for waiver consideration and the notice is to be treated as a Standing Order.

Sea cargo manifest compliance requires authorised carriers to register on ICEGATE and stakeholders to comply with new regulations
Authorised carriers filing arrival and departure manifests must register through the ICEGATE portal under the amended Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018 before the Regulations come into force on 1 August 2019; all importers, exporters, agents, shipping lines and other stakeholders must take cognisance and comply, and may report difficulties in compliance to the issuing office.

Paperless LPCO submission: PGA uploading required, beneficiary uploads disabled and ICEGATE email registration needed for access.
PGAs must upload digitally signed Licenses/Permits/Certificates/Other Authorizations (LPCOs) onto eSANCHIT; beneficiaries will be barred from uploading previously issued LPCOs once PGA uploading is fully enabled. PGAs are required to upload LPCOs issued during the prior 15-day window and may upload earlier LPCOs to enable beneficiary use. Communication of LPCO details and IRNs must be via email addresses registered in ICEGATE, utilising a simplified auto-registration process for limited eSANCHIT functions without digital signatures; customs formations must ensure correct beneficiary email registration and issue public notices.

Partial discharge of bonds: proportionate online crediting as export obligations are fulfilled, streamlining bond release.
Partial discharge of bonds and bank guarantees for gold imports will be credited proportionately as export obligations are fulfilled through an online mechanism in ICES 1.5, subject to prescribed documentation evidencing export fulfilment and application of existing standard operating procedures and timelines for expeditious bond discharge.

Late filing exemption for Bill of Entry due to portal failure, conditional waiver granted upon evidence and discretion.
Exemption from late-filing charges for presentation of the Bill of Entry is authorised for consignments with entry inward dates on 08.07.2019 and 09.07.2019 and corresponding Bill of Entry dates within that period; waivers for such late presentation will be processed by the respective Deputy/Assistant Commissioners. Delays in BE generation after 10.07.2019 must be supported by evidence of attempted electronic submission-job numbers, screenshots or ICEGATE messages-to enable consideration of discretionary waivers on merits.

Export cargo security: CFS custodians must allow sample drawals only on authorised customs letters and face liability.
CFS custodians are responsible for secure custody of export cargo and must permit sampling only when a Customs officer or authorised agency draws samples in the presence of the exporter or representative and on production of a letter from the concerned AC/DC (CFS). Custodians must maintain records of samples and authorising letters; non-compliance in sampling or record-keeping makes the custodian liable for pilferage or shortages and requires reporting such incidents to the Docks (Administration).

Electronic Out of Charge transmission enables custodians to issue gate pass without hard copy; manual order if system fails.
Custodians shall issue the Gate Pass/Delivery Order on electronic transmission of Out of Charge (OOC) through ICEGATE without insisting on the hard copy of the Out of Charge. If electronic transmission is not possible due to system failure or technical problems, custodians may issue a Manual Delivery Order signed by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Import Shed), which must be regularized in the system by the next working day.

Waiver of Late Filing Penalty for bills of entry affected by e Sanchit outage; charges waived subject to verification.
Late filing penalties for Bills of Entry affected by the e Sanchit outage will be waived where the IGM and Bill of Entry dates fall within the affected window; such waivers will be administered by the respective Deputy/Assistant Commissioners. For Bills filed after the disrupted period but linked to entries during the outage, applicants must furnish ICEGATE job numbers, screenshots or messages to evidence attempted filing, and those cases will be considered on merits.

Exemption from late filing charges granted for delayed Bill of Entry filings due to portal failures; waivers available on evidence.
Exemption from late filing charges is authorized where e Sanchit/ICEGATE delays prevented timely Bill of Entry filings. The waiver covers consignments with entry inward dates 08.07.2019 and 09.07.2019 and Bills of Entry dated 08.07.2019-10.07.2019 and will be handled by the respective Deputy/Assistant Commissioners. For filings after 10.07.2019 relating to those entry dates, applicants must submit Job numbers, screenshots or ICEGATE messages to show attempted submissions; waivers will be considered on merits.

Mandatory e-storage of export documents requires digitally signed uploads at shipping bill filing; physical supporting documents disallowed.
Mandatory implementation of eSANCHIT requires exporters or their authorized persons to upload digitally signed supporting documents on ICEGATE at the time of filing the Shipping Bill; physical supporting documents are prohibited. A Shipping Bill is deemed filed and self-assessment completed when ICEGATE generates the Shipping Bill number. Clearance orders after assessment, payment and examination may be recorded and conveyed electronically. The authorized person must retain the assessed copy of the Shipping Bill and original supporting documents for the prescribed retention period and produce them when required; noncompliance attracts penal liability.

Expert trade panel for gemstone and jewellery valuation established; membership subject to specified qualifications and commissioner discretion.
Constitution of an Expert Trade Panel is invited for valuation, identification, classification and examination of diamonds, precious and semi precious stones, pearls and gold/silver jewellery for import/export clearance. Applicants must show relevant trade expertise and experience, submit membership or institutional certification, a solvency certificate, and have no pending legal action. Panel members must give on the spot opinions when called; fees are payable by the importer/exporter. Selection follows committee recommendation, but inclusion is at the Commissioner's discretion; applications must be submitted by the stated deadline.

Project imports module now mandates system registration and PI bond linkage before import declarations can be filed.
The ICES Project Imports module requires digital project registration via the LIC/APR workflow producing a project number to be quoted in Bills of Entry; registration mandates entry of all imported items with quantity and CIF in foreign currency, mandatory PI bond details, sponsoring authority data, and limits on value and quantity. A new national provisional bond category PI is introduced for use across ports; project-linked provisional BES filings will record item wise debits against the project/bond, and finalisation via FAO/FDC roles will re credit the bond. Filing without a project number will be disallowed once changes are implemented.

Customs duty revisions and procedural Customs Act amendments effective immediately, altering tariff classifications and levy structures.
Immediate indirect tax measures follow introduction of the Finance (No.2) Bill, 2019 by declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act: chapter wise revisions to Basic Customs Duty (increases, reductions, selective exemptions and new nominal duties on petroleum crude and tobacco), tariff reclassification to align with HSN, withdrawal of certain end use exemptions, procedural and enforcement amendments to the Customs Act, anti circumvention insertion for Countervailing Duty, changes to safeguard appeal jurisdiction, GST compliance and appellate reforms, and Central Excise adjustments to duties on tobacco and petroleum.

Partial discharge of bonds enabled, allowing proportional crediting of bonds and bank guarantees as export obligations are fulfilled.
Partial discharge of bonds and corresponding bank guarantees for imported gold will be effected by proportionate online crediting in ICES 1.5 as export obligations are met, based on prescribed documentation submitted to jurisdictional customs authorities; the existing standard operating procedure and timelines for bond discharge apply mutatis mutandis, and a system advisory will provide details of the new functionality.

Mandatory digital submission: exporters must upload digitally signed supporting documents on e-SANCHIT when filing shipping bills.
Exporters and customs brokers must upload all supporting documents as digitally signed files on e-SANCHIT when filing Shipping Bills under the Shipping Bill (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations, 2019; hard copy supporting documents will not be accepted and implementation issues must be reported to the Commissioner.