Central Excise notification clarification requires trade participants and clearing agents to follow circulated instructions and report compliance difficulties promptly.
Clarification concerning amended Central Excise notifications is circulated for information, guidance and necessary action. Trade participants and clearing agents are directed to comply with the enclosed Board circular and promptly report any compliance difficulties to the Customs office.

Extra Duty Deposit e-payment requirement: online challan generation blocks release until deposit paid, with correction option.
Integration of an online Extra Duty Deposit (EDD) module in ICES 1.5 requires the Appraising Officer to generate an invoice wise EDD challan and forward particulars to the bank for e-payment; once EDD particulars are saved for a Bill of Entry, the system blocks issuance of "Out of Charge" until the e-payment is made. Incorrect unpaid challans may be deleted by the Appraiser in ICES 1.5 and re generated, and importers or Customs Brokers must verify challan details before payment and approach the Appraising Officer or Assistant Commissioner (EDI) for issues.

Reward guidelines revised: discretionary caps and procedures for informers and officials in seizure and recovery cases.
Consolidated revised guidelines govern discretionary ex-gratia rewards to informers and Government Servants for seizures, detection of duty/service tax evasion and recovery actions under Customs, Central Excise, NDPS and Service Tax provisions. Eligibility, assessment criteria (specificity of information, risk, investigational contribution, post-investigation work), ceilings by rank and case value, and special per-unit rates for narcotics and bullion are prescribed. Advance/interim payments are permitted in defined categories and final rewards are payable after completion of adjudication/appeal/prosecution, with total payments capped and subject to committee sanction and service-record entries.

Risk Management System in exports requires trade participants and clearing agents to follow notified customs instructions strictly.
Risk Management System in exports is notified for information, guidance and strict compliance by trade participants and clearing agents. The notice circulates the enclosed customs circular concerning the introduction of the export RMS and requires any difficulty in complying with its instructions to be promptly brought to the notice of the customs office.

Unauthorized fee collection is fraudulent; Customs never requests payments to private accounts - verify via official channels.
Fraudsters impersonate Customs officers to extract payments by instructing victims to deposit alleged customs fees into private accounts; Customs officers do not make such calls or authorise deposits into personal accounts. All legitimate Customs dues must be deposited in a Government Account through nominated nationalised banks using Government Challans or prescribed e-payment modes. The public is warned not to pay into private accounts and should verify any demand through the designated Superintendent offices or the Control Room via official contact channels.

Extra Duty Deposit e-payment integration in customs ICES requires generated challans and blocks clearance until payment is completed.
Integration of Extra Duty Deposit (EDD) into ICES 1.5 mandates generation of an EDD challan by the Appraiser for a Bill of Entry, selection of the prescribed EDD rate, forwarding challan particulars to the bank for e-payment, and blocking issuance of Out of Charge until payment is completed; Appraisers may delete and re-enter challans before payment where material errors exist, and importers/brokers must verify challan details prior to e-payment.

Extra Duty Deposit e-payment required in ICES; online challan must be paid before release and manual payment barred.
Integration of Extra Duty Deposit (EDD) into ICES 1.5 requires the Appraising Officer to generate an invoice based EDD challan, select the applicable rate, save entries and forward particulars to the bank for e payment. The system will not permit "Out of Charge" for a Bill of Entry with saved EDD particulars until e payment is made. Brokers/importers must verify challan details before payment, and the Appraiser may delete and re generate an incorrect challan prior to payment.

Extra duty deposit e-payment now required for provisional assessments; system blocks clearance until online payment is completed.
Integration of an online payment mechanism for Extra Duty Deposit in ICES 1.5 requires the Appraising Officer to generate an invoice based EDD challan, forward particulars to the bank for e-payment, and blocks issuance of Out of Charge until the EDD is paid; brokers or importers must verify challan details and may seek deletion and reissuance of incorrect challans prior to payment.

Post-shipment amendments must be supported by documentary evidence at export and follow prescribed procedural review and escalation.
Post-shipment amendments are allowed only on the basis of documentary evidence existing at the time of export under Section 149. Exporters or customs brokers must submit certified supporting documents; the Inspector conducts preliminary scrutiny and the Superintendent records whether Section 149 conditions and any negligence are present before forwarding to AC/DC. Minor amendments without revenue impact are delegated to ACs/DCs; major amendments (quantity/value, exporter/consignee name, duty rate/schedule, licence number) require prior ADC/JC approval. Requests should ordinarily be disposed of within thirty days, with escalation to JC/ADC for delays.

Extra Duty Deposit e-payment requirement: mandatory online ICES challans, clearance blocked until payment is completed.
Online payment of Extra Duty Deposit (EDD) is now mandatory via the ICES 1.5 e-payment module; Appraisers must generate invoice-level EDD challans, forward particulars to the bank, and select the applicable rate. The system blocks issuance of "Out of Charge" until EDD is paid. Incorrect unpaid challans may be deleted and reissued by the Appraiser. Manual payment of EDD is no longer accepted and the procedure is effective immediately.

Valuation practice for iron ore exports: Customs to use load and discharge test reports to determine assessable value.
A standardized procedure requires Customs to draw Bureau of Indian Standards samples and provisionally assess shipping bills under Section 14 and the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Export Goods) Rules, 2007, comparing declared value with invoices and contracts. Where load port and discharge port test reports are within contractual tolerances the provisional assessment may be finalized; if variations affect price the officer shall re determine assessable value and may accept an average of the two test reports. Related party transactions are subject to specialized investigation and separate finalization timelines; Bank Realisation Certificates will be monitored for value verification.

Online lighthouse dues collection introduces a compliance system for trade participants, clearing agents and liners.
Online e-collection of lighthouse dues was introduced through a new system notified for the guidance and compliance of trade participants, clearing agents and liners. The notice circulates communications concerning implementation of the online collection mechanism and requires stakeholders facing compliance or implementation difficulties to promptly inform the customs office.

Cost recovery for damaged container scanners: operators and CFSs liable for repairs and negligence may be penalised.
A committee of the Container Scanning Division will assess damage to the 9 MeV fixed scanner and GaRDS mobile system and estimate repair charges. The cost of repairs will be recovered directly from the responsible transport operators and CFSs. Negligence by CFSs or transport operators will be treated as obstruction of a customs officer and addressed under the Customs Act, the Indian Penal Code and other applicable laws.

Refund procedure for Special Additional Duty streamlined; auditor-certified challan copies accepted, Annexure E certificate introduced.
Accepts copies of ST/VAT challans accompanied by a consolidated statutory auditor/Chartered Accountant certificate in the prescribed proforma, eliminating the need for each challan copy to be separately certified. Originals may be called for in doubtful cases. Merges multiple auditor certificates into a single mandatory format, Annexure E, which verifies VAT/ST payment, correlates payments with sales invoices, addresses unjust enrichment, and covers sales via consignment agents; modifications apply to pending claims and Annexure E is mandatory from 1 August 2015.

Electronic delivery orders required: paper D.O. largely replaced by online transmission to custodians, with limited exceptions.
An Electronic Messaging System will replace routine physical delivery orders at the Air Cargo Complex, Mumbai: all airlines and consol agents must electronically transmit Delivery Order messages to custodians' portals for all airwaybills, while custodial verification, Customs out-of-charge and gate pass issuance procedures remain unchanged. Manual paper D.O.s are permitted only for specified categories (unaccompanied baggage, direct delivery, one-time/individual importers) or temporarily where electronic transfer fails; designated contacts are provided for implementation difficulties.

Foreign exchange declaration in Shipping Bill replaces separate SDF for EDI exports, requiring mandatory undertaking on remittance.
Exporters must replace the standalone SDF form with an embedded foreign exchange remittance declaration in the Shipping Bill, reflecting the RBI dispensation for EDI-processed exports and making the undertaking on realization and repatriation of foreign exchange a mandatory part of customs export filing.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers for valuation: applications require certification, institute referral and periodic performance appraisal.
Proposal for empanelment of Chartered Engineers for valuation of second hand and used imported/exported machinery, requiring submission of a proforma with qualifications, experience, institutional registrations, PAN and service tax details, and self attested certificates to the Commissioner of Customs (General). Applications will be scrutinised and referred to the Institute of Engineers for eligibility; recommended applicants will be empanelled, published in a public notice for trade use, and required to submit half yearly self appraisal reports for continued inclusion.

Extra Duty Deposit payment option enables invoice-wise e-challan and e-payment with BE recording and cancellation control.
Introduction of three ICES v.1.5 modules: Extra Duty Deposit payment allows appraisers to generate invoice wise e challans with e payment, records EDD on BE and blocks OOC until payment or cancellation; Bond Recredit enables bond recredit for successful sea sea transshipment at gateway ports; SEZ SB Verification lets PREV OFF mark consignments Allowed for Export and enter or modify container and AWB/rotation details.

Cancellation of LUT/BG bonds: selected advance licence exports must undergo document verification to enable security cancellation.
DEEC Monitoring Cell requires selected advance licence holders to submit documents listed in Annexure A of Public Notice No. 11/2011 for verification of exports to enable cancellation of BG/LUT; separate lists identify cases accepted without verification, cases prescribed for DGFT verification, and cases missing additional DGFT sheets, each subject to follow up under the DEEC procedural framework.

Refund of pre-deposit: file claim with group AC/DC with appellate order and payment proof, then obtain cheque.
Claimants must file a refund claim with the concerned group AC/DC attaching the original/attested appellate order and proof of pre-deposit payment; after the refund order, they must approach DC/Drawback with a bank attested mandate form for cheque issuance, and Drawback Section will keep separate records of refund cheques issued.