The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has abolished the requirement of periodic renewals of Licence/Registration issued to Customs Brokers and Authorised Carriers with effect from 23rd July 2021 by amending the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 and Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018.
The life-long validity of licenses/registrations is expected to provide a major relief to the trade by reducing their compliance burden and promoting the Ease of Doing Business in India.
Removing the requirement of seeking periodic renewals also reduces the interface between the Customs and the trade, which is a deliverable of the CBIC”s ”Contactless Customs” initiative, a critical component of its flagship Turant Customs programme.
Further, a provision has been made to invalidate licences/registrations that are inactivity for more than a year, which would prevent misuse of dormant licences/registrations by unscrupulous person who misdeclare import or export or wrongly obtain export refunds/incentives and when caught, put the burden on the original license/registration holder.
