Customs Collect More Than Rs. 5 Billion Through Auctions

In a landmark finding, the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) in pursuance of its motion investigation has ordered the customs authorities to do away with the huge pendency of auctionable goods and vehicles. In compliance with the above-said directives, Customs has far collected Rs. 5.34 billion by disposal of goods through auction in revenue. The own motion investigations were initiated by the FTO on the reports regarding a large quantity of confiscated or otherwise uncleared goods and vehicles laying un-disposed at Customs formations all over the country, involving stuck up revenue of billions of rupees. The Customs Laws, Rules, Customs General Orders (CGOs), and instructions provide for expeditious disposal and auctions of such goods and vehicles, however, the Customs authorities were not disposing of these goods and vehicles. The data pertaining to the un-disposed lots ripe for auction were collected for analysis purposes by FTO which revealed that a total of 8,522 lots are un-disposed and still pending in auction. The FTO directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to do away with the huge pendency of auctionable goods and vehicles. Furthermore, Member Customs (Operations) was to personally monitor the above activity and disciplinary action to be initiated under Efficiency and Discipline (E&D) Rules 2020 against the Collectors and Directors who fail to comply with this direction. In compliance with the above instructions, goods worth Rs. 5.34 billion have been auctioned by Customs in recent months.