New Delhi: The procedure for exports from India has been transformed into an end to end paperless process with the introduction of a Secure QR coded Shipping Bill that will be dispatched electronically to exporters, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India announced in a statement released yesterday.
It said that from June 22, 2020, the end to end Customs export process from India would be fully electronic, from the filing of the Shipping Bill to the final order to allow export, the Ministry stated.
Mr. Ajit Kumar, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) noted, “A Secure QR coded Shipping Bill would be electronically sent to exporters after the Customs allows export. This eliminates in one stroke the requirement of the exporters having to approach the Customs officers for proof of export.”
A Circular issued by CBIC of the same date informed that the move would do away with the requirement of taking bulky printouts from the Service Centre or maintenance of voluminous physical dockets in the Custom Houses. “This reform will yield immense benefits in terms of saving the time and cost of compliance for the trade, thereby enhancing the ease of doing business, while providing enhanced security features for verification of authenticity and validity of the electronic document,” the CBIC explained.
The Customs department also said that this reform complements the introduction of a digital PDF Out-of-Charge (OOC) copy of the Bill of Entry and Gatepass w.e.f. 15.04.2020 and launch of the 1st Phase of Faceless Assessment at Chennai and Bengaluru w.e.f. 08.06.2020.
It re-iterated that for the purposes of exports, all the supporting documents should mandatorily be uploaded in eSanchit and collection of physical dockets shall be dispensed with.
The initiative from CBIC is another step towards fulfilling its commitment to a Faceless, Paperless, and Contactless Customs under the umbrella of its “Turant Customs” programme, the Ministry said. “These reforms are based on enhanced use of digital technology to reduce the time and costs for the importers, exporters and other stakeholders, thereby improving India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Trading Across Borders parameter of its Doing Business Report.”
The launch of paperless documentation on exports is a sequel to a similar initiative that was begun for imports w.e.f. 15th April 2020. The electronic transmission of the Shipping Bill would do away with the present requirement to take paper printout of these documents thereby promoting Green Customs. Equally importantly exporters would not have to visit the Customs Houses for this purpose and can better utilize their time in promoting their business, the ministry announced.
Mr. Kumar informed that the endeavour is to leverage technology to make the Customs clearance process more transparent and faster. Turant Customs, which has as its main component Faceless Assessment, would be implemented in phases across the entire country by January 1, 2021.
