Now, pay Customs duties online

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the Customs department would accept e-payment of duties from April 1. The payments, he said, could be made through designated banks having online facilities.

The Customs department, in association with the State Bank of India, will launch a pilot project for e-payment on January 27 at Bangalore's air cargo facility. A similar facility in Delhi through Punjab National Bank will also be launched soon.

The e-payment facility, at present restricted to designated banks, will be expanded to a multi-bank Internet payment facility over time, an official release said.

E-payment of Customs duties is likely to reduce transaction costs of the assessee. The users of the e-payment facility need not come to the Customs office or to the bank to pay up.

E-filing of Customs documents for imports and exports is already in place and the facility of remote filing of all documents through an electronic gateway has been provided since January, 2004.  The Central Board of Excise and Customs has also introduced e-filing of excise and service tax returns.