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TMI Blog2024 (5) TMI 1064X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... documents when the contents thereof matched with the details available on the official government website. Therefore, we do not find any violation of the obligation in terms of Regulation 10(n) by the appellant. The impugned order revoking the Customs Brokers Licence, forfeiting the amount of security deposit and imposition of penalty needs to be set aside. The appeal is, accordingly, allowed. - MS. BINU TAMTA, MEMBER (JUDICIAL) AND MR. P. V. SUBBA RAO, MEMBER (TECHNICAL) Ms. Vidhushi Subham, Advocate for the appellant Shri M.R.Dhaniya, Authorised Representative for the respondent ORDER The appellant being the Customs Broker ( CB ) has challenged the Order-in-Original No.48/MK/Policy/2021 dated 14.06.2021 where his licence (valid upto 09.10.2026) was revoked and the security deposit amount was forfeited along with penalty of Rs.50,000/- under Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 (CBLR). 2. On the basis of the Analytics Report received vide email dated 17.08.2020 from Joint Director, DGARM, New Delhi, inquiry of violation under CBLR, 2018 was initiated against the appellant. Accordingly, show cause notice dated 20.12.2020 was issued to the appellant for the contravention o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gence and grossly violated the KYC guidelines of the said circular dated 08.04.2010. He further submitted that a large number of 19 exporters were found to be non-existent which is not a mere coincidence but shows failure of the appellant to perform its obligation as provided under Regulation 19(n) of the CBLR, 2018. The appellant has failed to produce the exporters whose goods he had handled for the process of export which ultimately resulted in the IGST refund frauds. The Customs Broker operates on the basis of trust. He acts as an agent of the Customs House as well as of the exporter and importer. Acting as a Customs Broker, the CB should take all steps to observe related laws meticulously. 7. The issue for our consideration is whether the revocation of the CB licence is justified on the ground that the several exporters whose consignments were handled by the appellant, having committed IGST fraud and were found to be un-traceable on physical verification by the DGRAM, New Delhi, is justified. We find that this issue has been considered at length in the decision of this Tribuanl in Mauli Worldwide Logistics vide Final Order No.50561/2022 dated 04.07.2022 by referring to the earl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to various assessees as available in its System. Therefore, there is no possibility of the GSTIN being not issued by the department because it was extracted from its own system. Similarly, the Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) is an essential field for filing any Shipping Bill in the Customs EDI system and we find it unbelievable that an IEC not issued by the DGFT would be accepted by the Customs EDI system. Since the GSTIN is PAN based, the PAN must have also been issued by the Income Tax Department. It is a different matter if the Customs Broker files export documents in the name of A‟ when the goods are actually being exported by B‟ or produces forged documents. Such is not the allegation in this case. To sum up, indisputably, various documents such as GSTIN, IEC, PAN card, etc. were issued by the concerned authorities which were obtained by the appellant as a part of KYC. 21 . We find that Regulation 10(n) requires the Customs Broker to verify correctness of Importer Exporter Code (IEC) number, Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), identity of his client and functioning of his client at the declared address by using reliable, independent, authentic docum ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mine the scope of the obligations of the Customs Broker under Regulation 10(n). It requires the Customs Broker to verify correctness of Importer Exporter Code (IEC) number, Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN),identity of his client and functioning of his client at the declared address by using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information . This obligation can be broken down as follows: a) Verify the correctness of IEC number b) Verify the correctness of GSTIN c) Verify the identity of the client using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information d) Verify the functioning of the client at the declared address using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information 26. Of the above, (a) and (b) require verification of the documents which are issued by the Government departments. The IEC number is issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade and the GSTIN is issued by the GST officers under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs of the Government of India or under the Governments of State or Union territory. The question which arises is has the Customs Broker to satisfy himself that these documents or the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sued by a Government officer so long as it is valid. In this case, there is no doubt or evidence that the IEC, the GSTIN and other documents were issued by the officers. So, there is no violation as far as the documents are concerned. 28 . The third obligation under Regulation 10(n) requires the Customs Broker to verify the identity of the client using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information. In other words, he should know who the client is and the client cannot be some fictitious person. This identity can be established by independent, reliable, authentic: a) documents; b) data; or c) information 29 . Any of the three methods can be employed by the Customs Broker to establish the identity of his client. It is not necessary that it has to only collect information or launch an investigation. So long as it can find some documents which are independent, reliable and authentic to establish the identity of his client, this obligation is fulfilled. Documents such as GSTIN, IEC and PAN card issued etc., certainly qualify as such documents. However, these are not the only documents the Customs Broker could obtain; documents issued by any other officer of the Governm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ieve that the officers who issued them were not independent and neither has the Customs Broker any reason to believe that they were not independent. 8. Following the aforesaid observations made in the similar context, we are of the view that revocation of the customs broker licence is not justified. The appellant had verified the antecedents and correctness of IEC, KYC documents, GST and other documents of their clients from the Government s official website (DGFT, GST and Income Tax Department) before the clearance of the goods. As noted by the Tribunal there cannot be more reliable data than the official government website. Consequently, there was no reason for the appellant to have suspected the genuineness of the documents when the contents thereof matched with the details available on the official government website. Therefore, we do not find any violation of the obligation in terms of Regulation 10(n) by the appellant. The impugned order revoking the Customs Brokers Licence, forfeiting the amount of security deposit and imposition of penalty needs to be set aside. 9. The appeal is, accordingly, allowed. [Order pronounced in open court on 18th April, 2024] - - TaxTMI - TMI ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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