Birgunj customs collects Rs 307.6m in fines

Under-invoicing of imported goods through Birgunj Customs Office appears to have gone up, with the customs office collecting revenue of Rs 307.6 million by increasing the valuation of undervalued goods in the first 10 months this fiscal year compared to Rs 106.1 million in the same period a year ago. “Importers are found to have cheated in the quantity and origin of goods. They have been fined up to 200 percent,” said Ram Hari Aryal, chief of Birgunj Customs.

In the past, the office used to confiscate goods if found to be imported with fraud details. But after the country switched to the GAT (General Agreement on Tariff) valuation system of the World Trade Organization, the office has emphasised on penalty instead of confiscation, Aryal said. “Penalty is imposed based on the evaluation of whichever among confiscation and fine would be beneficial,” he added. According to Birgunj Customs, it found 109 customs clearance documents in which importers mentioned wrong information about the country of origin of goods, while 59 documents had fake details. In 162 customs clearance certificates, importers mentioned false quantity and 115 certificates did not mention the brand and the size of goods. According to customs officials, importers are under-invoicing imports by misquoting quantity, origin and brand.


After the customs office began evaluating imported goods, it has been collecting more revenue from penalty imposed against under-invoicing. Importers have to submit the ‘bill of export’ at the Indian customs office while importing goods to Nepal. Although they submit authentic documents at Indian customs, they produce different documents at Nepali customs. A Birgunj customs source said about Rs 20 million in taxes is being evaded on a daily basis through under-invoicing. Aryal said the office re-evaluates the goods if under-invoicing is suspected.


“Due to the stern re-evaluation policy, we have collected Rs 200 million in additional revenue,” he said. Due to import of goods through under-invoicing, malpractices like traders’ refusal to issue bills or issuing fake bills are taking place in local market. Goods including, motor parts, cosmetic goods, saari and shirting suiting are imported through Birgunj.