implementation of Centralized PAN based CHA directory. - Customs - 66/2006.

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (IMPORT) JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSE, NHAVA SHEVA. F.No . S/22-Gen-104/2006 A(M) (I) DATE: NOVEMBER, 2006 PUBLIC NOTICE No.66/2006. ( Referred / amended vide P.N.No. 71/2006) Attention of Custom House Agents and all concerned is invited to the Public Notices 54 dated 05.09.2006 regarding implementation of Centralized PAN based CHA directory. Following the provision of access for updation of the directory to the 19 Policy Sections/ CHA sections that are concerned with the 35 ICES locations, doubts/issues have been raised with regard to the exact procedure for CHA registration. A list of the issues raised and the suggested remedies/clarifications is given in the table at Annexure A to this Public Notice. The correct procedure for registration to be followed by CHAs and Policy Sections is detailed below. 2. The current position in regard to the status of a CHAs PAN based registration can be obtained from the Central PAN based directory. CHAs may obtain these details from the Policy Section by requesting the retrieval of a Check List against their PAN numbers. Alternatively, the same information can be obtained as a Report by entering the PAN number on the ICEGATE website with the following URL: http://www.icegate.gov.in/CHAReport/index.html . 3. Both the Check List and the Report from the URL require the entry of the only 10 digit PAN number. The Check List/Report has 3 parts to it. The first part provides the CHA licensing details. The license information includes the following fields: (i) CHA license number (ii) Policy Section of Registration (iii) Registration date (iv) Validity (expiry) date. 4. It is possible that some CHAs have original licenses issued from more than one Custom House. CHAs cannot maintain multiple registrations for operation on an all-India basis, since the centralized database would require one registration date and one validity date against their license, which will be valid on an all India basis. They may choose one of the registrations as their Principal registration and the associated Policy Section will be termed as the Principal Policy Section. The registrations in Policy Sections other than the Principal Policy Section will be made inoperative on the system. For this purpose, the authorized signatory of the CHA must make an application on their letter-head addressed to the concerned Commissioner of Customs with copies delivered to all other Policy sections where their licenses are currently registered in the ICES. Upon receipt of this request, the Principal Policy Section shall de-activate the remaining registrations. The Principal Policy section will treat the registrations at other ICES locations as Reg. 9(2) intimations, since the existence of a proper and valid license implies intimation under Reg. 9(2) of CHA LR 2004 . Thereafter, the CHA and the concerned policy sections will be intimated in writing by the Principal Policy Section regarding the action taken on ICES. All Policy Sections concerned with the License should make a note on their respective records regarding the selection of the Principal Policy Section by the CHA and the recording of Intimation/permission under Regulation 9(2) for ICES locations under other Policy Sections. 5. The second part of the Check list/Report contains branch particulars and contact particulars. This will be provided in the report for all licenses. Each branch will be given a 15 digit PAN based registration number, which a CHA can use to file at any ICES location. CHAs requiring amendment or updation to the branch particulars must make an application on their letterhead to the Principal Policy Section. Upon receipt of this letter, the concerned Principal Policy Section must forthwith carry out the amendment, obtain a print-out of the checklist and issue a letter to the CHA enclosing the checklist to confirm that the requested changes have been carried out. CHAs can also ascertain this by checking it out for themselves on the ICEGATE website. 6. The third part of the Checklist/Report provides a list of locations where the CHAs PAN based registration number is operational and as on that day, the CHA can operate at all these locations. This part shows the list of locations and the old CHA number on which the CHA is presently operating (pending implementation of the PAN based license). This list indicates that either the CHA is an original registrant at the ICES location or has obtained a Reg. 9(2) permission to operate at the location. If a CHA does not find his name in this list, the authorized signatory may make a request on his letter head at the Principal/Policy section, for inclusion of additional ICES locations where he intends to transact business. The application should include the following documentation: (i) His current Check-list /Report taken from the ICEGATE website. (ii) Copy of his License (iii) Copy of proof of Reg. 9(2) intimation for the site (if it is not the Original Policy section). (iv) Copy of a sample signed bill of entry or shipping bill from the ICES location in question (this will give help the policy section enter the exact old registration number). The reference of the old ICES registration number is a must since a link has to be established in the data base between the PAN based registration number and Old CHA registration number on ICES. 7. Once the Principal Policy section is chosen by the CHA, all updation on the directory shall take place from this Policy Section alone. The updation of intimations under Regulation 9(2) will however be done in the Policy Section of the location where a CHA intends start operations on the basis of license issued elsewhere. The validity of the CHA license will be according to the validity (expiry) date registered in the Principal License. All Policy Sections must also take note that the Principal Policy Section must be immediately intimated in writing regarding any change in the status of a CHA, such as suspension, cancellation or any other proposal concerning the operation of the CHA license. Needless to say that procedure established in the CHA LR (2004) is required to be strictly adhered to in this regard. 8. Annexure B gives the list of these 19 customs stations given in Column A. Column B of this Annex gives the list of associated ICES locations where there are no CHA sections in operation. Registration of Form C under Rule 9(2) of CHALR 2004 in the ICES location in column A will imply automatic permission to operate the corresponding ICES locations in column B. However, automatic permission is subject to intimation of old CHA numbers for the ICES location being registered as described in para 6 above. 9. CHAs seeking to operate in a Custom House must submit a Form C intimation under Reg 9(2) to the Policy Section associated with the Custom house. The respective Policy Sections will then update CHA registration database only to the extent of recording the 9(2) intimation for the Custom House against the PAN number. The entry of Branch addresses and Contact Persons is an independent activity and can be done only at the Principal Policy Section. CHAs who want to update their branch particulars may do so at any point in time at the Principal Policy Sections. While intimation under regulation 9(2) of CHA LR 2004 and its updation in CHA Registration Data Base will be with the respective Custom Houses or associated policy sections, the update of the Branch addresses and the Contact person details will take place only at the Principal Policy section. Therefore, after updating in the system based on Reg. 9(2) intimation, the concerned Policy Sections must send a copy of the intimation to the Principal Policy Section to update the branch addresses and contact person details etc. CHAs may verify the status online and if the necessary updations have not taken place, they may approach their Principal Policy Section get the needful done. 10. CHAs who have licenses issued by non-EDI Custom Houses and who seek to operate at any of the EDI locations under the provisions of Reg. 9(2) of CHALR 2004 , would be required to get their licenses registered in the Policy Section of the nearest EDI center, which will be designated as the Principal Policy section for registration and further updation of information. As the registration would be PAN based in the CHA directory, the CHA will have to necessarily provide a copy of PAN along with the other documents for this purpose. The Principal Policy section would carry out the formality of registration by entering all particulars of the CHA and thereafter give the necessary intimation to the non-EDI Centre. The Licensing Policy section in the non-EDI location will thereafter intimate changes in the CHA license status with regard to extension of validity, suspension or any other change in the registration status to that Policy Section. This arrangement will continue until the non-EDI Centre gets covered under EDI. Authorized signatories of such CHAs may therefore apply on their letter heads seeking registration under Reg. 9(2) with intimation to their License issuing Policy Section. The Policy section should forthwith register them on PAN based database with an intimation to the concerned non-EDI Policy section. It is important to note that as an integral part of this registration process, a new PAN based CHA registration number will be generated which will thenceforth replace the CHA number originally assigned by non-EDI location. Both the CHA and the concerned non-EDI location will have to ensure that the documents are filed using the new PAN based number. 11. Custom House Agent and their Associations are requested to give wide publicity to this Public Notice for compliance. (NAJIB SHAH) COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (IMPORT) J.N.C.H Annexure A S.No. Reference No. and Date Problem Reported/ Issue Raised Remarks Suggested Course of action 1. C No. VIII(H) 13/12/2006 dated 14/8/06 from NCH Delhi and reminder dated 20-09-2006 Policy Branch has not been provided a facility to generate a 15 digit PAN based number. The software provides for only 10 digits for generating an online checklist. There is a facility for the generation of 15 digit PAN numbers on the centralized PAN based CHA directory. This directory is centrally hosted. These numbers can be viewed by the CHA policy section using the menu option provided in the directory maintenance module in ICES/E. The same list can be viewed on the web at http://www.icegate.gov.in/CHAReport/index.html . It is again clarified that CHAs will be able to use any of their registered 15 digit PAN based CHA numbers for filing at any location. 2 -do- CHAs who have registered their PANs in Delhi Air cargo are being shown as unregistered in Tughlakabad, Patparganj and Faridabad. Attention is invited to this office letter of even number dated 08/09/2005 enclosing a Draft Public Notice. In Sr No. 15 of this Annex I to this Draft PN, it was mentioned that while registering the CHAs in the PAN based CHA Directory, that the details of CHA registrations in ports other than the registered ports should be provided. CHAs who have not provided their present CHA registration numbers for different ICES locations at the time of registration can provide these details to their respective policy sections. Till such time as this information is not supplied to the Policy Section, the system will continue to show the status for such locations as un-registered. For removal of doubts, the procedure for carrying out this registration is provided in the enclosed circular. 4 FFFAI/CBEC/050/06 dated 13/09/06 No clear-cut guidelines or instructions for each station and branches. The instructions issued from time to time have not been clearly understood by the CHA and the departmental officers. To clarify the entire procedure for registration of PAN based CHA directory, a circular is being issued. (copy enclosed.) 5. -do- CHA names have been shown as un-registered. Refer to clarification at 2 above. The point refers to the website information which gave the position as on 22/08/2006. The link has since been removed since several CHAs have since updated their registrations. On the website, CHAs can now enter their PAN number which would enable them to view their registration details and also provide the list of ICES locations where they are authorized and enabled to operate. 6 -do- There are duplicate registrations. What will be done to those licenses once the PAN based registration comes into being. A number of CHAs have more than one license. CHAs who have obtained original licenses at more than one customs location will have to decide on retaining one of the policy sections as the Principal Policy Section. The remaining registrations/ licenses will be cancelled in the system and the sites will be treated in the system as being governed by Regulation 9(2) intimations. NIC is making the software available to the Custom House Policy sections. The procedure involved is explained in enclosed circular. 7 BCHAA/RRK/306/2006 dated 13/09/2006 and 14/09/2006 Website not showing up to date information Rescheduling of implementation Refer to point number 5 above. Revised schedule of implementation in Para 3 of this letter. 8 Several emails and representations (from Chennai Custom house, Delhi custom house, Banagalre Air Cargo, M/s Domino Cargo, M/s Jayant co. etc on the inability to make fresh registrations on the old CHA directory. Old CHA Directory has been blocked from updation. While the facility for extending validity dates for existing CHA registrations have been provided, new CHA registrations and Reg. 9(2) updations have been barred in the old CHA directory and such CHAs have been permitted to carry out their transactions in the manual mode. The reason is as follows: The PAN based CHA directory has been compiled after drawing information from the existing CHA directories so that the records of transactions carried out in the ICES using the old CHA registration numbers can be linked-up with the new PAN based registration numbers. If new records are allowed to be added, the work that has been done on data compilation will have to be carried out again and a new PAN based CHA directory will get created. This would imply undoing the entire work done over the past few months. The situation will ease with the implementation of the Centralized PAN based CHA directory, which will be implemented according to schedule given in Para 3 of this letter. 9. Ref: F/235A/2006 dated 19/9/2006- BCHAA CHAs holding more that one license Refer to point no. 6 above 10 -do- Registering a license for a custom house which is not under EDI/ ICEGATE system Problems encountered in registering CHAs who have been given licenses by Custom Houses which are not yet covered under EDI have been reported. Such CHAs may choose the nearest Policy Section covered under EDI to register themselves. The procedure is elaborated in the circular enclosed. 11 DCCAA/system/2006- 2007 dated 22/09/2006 Delhi Customs Clearing Agents Association(regd) Web site is not opening; Problems regarding the operation of the website should be reported to ICEGATE helpdesk at 011-23379020(20 lines). 12 Meeting with BCHAA on 08/10/2006 Registration under Reg. 9(2) procedure is different in different formations Documentation, formalities and clearances are different for different Custom Houses for registration of license and Reg. 9(2) intimation. This matter is being examined and separate instructions will issue in this regard. 13 -do- The CHALR (2004) has no concept for a Centralized registration. The CHALR (2004 ) while providing for a nation-wide applicability of CHA license subject to intimation under Reg 9(2), does not provide for any license numbering system. Under ICES, a national PAN based numbering system is being implemented. 14 -do- Whether flat file format for ICEGATE will have to provide new 15 digit PAN based CHA reg. No.? Once the new registration database takes over, the flat file BE and Shipping bill messages will be required to contain the new registration number. NIC has prepared a patch which can be implemented by the RES users. Even floppy submission and Annexures to service centers should contain new 15 digit PAN based CHA numbers. CHAs are requested to advise their respective software vendors to implement the required changes. Changes would come into effect from the date on which the new directory will be made operational. 15 On Email In case there is a change in the constitution of an existing CHA resulting in a change in the PAN number itself The concerned Policy Section may first determine the continued validity of the license and whether the license is to be granted/extended to the new entity. If a license has to be granted to htenew entity, the Policy Section may, in the new PAN based CHA directory, cancel the old license that has ceased to be valid and enter the new PAN as a fresh record in the database. There is no provision in the system for amending PAN numbers of CHAs. Annex B: CHA Sections at ICES Locations (A)CHA Section (B) ICES Locations covered 1 New Custom House, Delhi (1) Air Cargo Delhi (2) ICD Tughlakabad (3) ICD Parparganj (4) ICD Faridabad 2 New Custom House Mumbai (1) Mumbai Port (2) Nhava Sheva (3) Air Cargo Sahar (4) CFS Mulund 3 Chennai Custom House (1) Chennai Sea (2) Chennai Air 4 Kolkata Custom House (1) Kolkata Sea (2) Kolkata Air (3) Petrapole LCS 5 Ludhiana (1) Ludhiana OWPL (2) Ludhiana PSWC (3) Ludhiana CONCOR 6 Goa Custom house Goa Custom House 7 Vizag Custom House (1) Visakhapatnam port (2) Kakinada Port 8. Kandla Custom house (1) Kandla port 9. Ahmedabad Custom house (1) ICD Sabarmati (2) Air Cargo Ahmedabad 10. Hyderabad Customs (1) Begumpet Air Cargo (2) ICD Sanatnagar 11. Tuticorin Customs (1) Tutuicorin Port (2) St. Johns ICD 12 Jaipur Custom house (1) Jaipur ICD Rajsico 13. Indore CH (1) ICD Pitampur 14. Raxaul LCS (1) Raxaul LCS 15. Cochin Custom house (1) Cochin Port 16. Trivandrum Customs (1) Trivendrum ACC 17. Mangalore Custom House (1) New Mangalore Port 18 Mundhra Port (1) Mundhra port 19 Pitampur ICD (1) Pithampur ICD