The Ministry of Finance, via notification no. 114/2017 – Customs (N.T.)[1] , dated December 14, 2017, has released the Customs (Furnishing of Information) Rules, 2017. These rules shall come into force from January 1, 2018.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet approved amendment in the Customs and Excise Act for insertion of Sections 108A and 108B in the Customs Act, 1962, which sought to provide for furnishing of information relating to import/export of goods by specified persons to enable analysis and detection of cases of under/over-valuation in imports and exports.[2]
As per the new Customs (Furnishing of Information) Rules, the information required to be furnished under sub-section (1) of section 108A of the Customs Act, 1962, shall be furnished electronically by a Banking Company[3] in respect of details of foreign exchange transactions made or received by any person on outward remittance recorded or received by him to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. Further, such information has to be verified and signed by a person authorized by a Banking Company.
The Information Administrator may receive the information and may issue necessary instructions relating to the day to day administration of furnishing of the said information and the said Information Administrator may specify mandatory or non-mandatory fields in the format, periodicity and manner of furnishing information apart from the procedures, data structure and standards for ensuring secure capture and transmission of data, evolving and implementing appropriate security, archival and retrieval policies.
An Information-Administrator, in this regard, means an officer specified by the Central Board of Excise and Customs for the purposes of receipt of the information under section 108A of the Customs Act, 1962 from a person authorized by a Banking Company.
Lastly, until the Information-Administrator specifies the modalities for secure capture and transmission of data, the said information may be furnished through a secure, electronic medium to the Information-Administrator.
[1] Available at: http://www.egazette.nic.in/writereaddata/2017/180932.pdf.
[2] Refer press release by Government of India, dated March 22, 2017, available at: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=159759.
[3] A Banking Company within the meaning of clause (a) of Section 45A of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.