₹1,634 crore customs duties unrecovered for over ten years, CAG finds

It focused on customs revenue collection, arrears recovery, and compliance with the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) Scheme.

Who it concerns: Union Government, Department of Revenue (Indirect Taxes-Customs), Ministry of Finance, and Director General of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Commerce and Industry).

What the auditor found

• CAG found that the Department failed to achieve targets for recovering Customs Duties arrears, with a shortfall of 84.91% in FY 24.
• There was a continuous shortfall in achieving arrears recovery targets for five consecutive years (FY 20 to FY 24).
• Out of total arrears of ₹25,540 crore, ₹4,330 crore (16.95%) remained unrecovered for more than five years.
• Within the five-year-old arrears, ₹1,634 crore had been pending for more than ten years.
• During FY 24, the audit issued 195 inspection reports containing 1,684 observations with a total revenue implication of ₹472 crore.
• The audit noted that the Department did not provide complete data for Pan-India transactions, forcing the audit to be conducted in the traditional method in 47 out of 70 Customs Commissionerates.

Also in the document

• CAG reported that ₹1,634 crore in customs duties had been unrecovered for over ten years.
• CAG noted that the Department missed its arrears recovery targets by 84.91% in FY 24, a trend that continued for five years.
• CAG stated that the lack of complete electronic data from the Department prevented a 100% data review, limiting the audit scope to 47 of 70 Commissionerates.