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

This audit examined the compliance and performance of the Union Government's Department of Revenue (Indirect Taxes-Customs) and the Director General of Foreign Trade for the period ended March 2024 (FY 2023-24). It focused on customs revenue collection, arrears recovery, and compliance with the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) Scheme.

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

• 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.

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