New Delhi: The finance ministry has ordered a probe into complaints raised on social media by a buying and selling agency in Tamil Nadu, which alleged it was pressured to cease operations on account of harassment by customs officers in Chennai.
The finance ministry mentioned in a publish on social media platform X on Thursday that the federal government has taken cognizance of the matter and {that a} senior officer from the division of income has been deputed to conduct “an in depth factual enquiry, listening to the events involved, officers and completely analyzing all related documentary proof”.
“The matter is being handled utmost seriousness, and the federal government is dedicated to taking acceptable and expeditious motion in accordance with the legislation,” the ministry mentioned. “It’s reiterated that the federal government is dedicated to enhancing ease of doing enterprise.”
The social media posts by the agency, Wintrack Inc., which offers in digital gadgets and equipment, triggered a social media dialogue on alleged corruption in customs clearance.
Wintrack alleged on X that its resolution to stop all import and export operations in India efficient from 1 October comes after “repeated and unjustified harassment by officers at Chennai Customs over the previous 45 days”. The corporate’s founder, Pravin Ganeshan, claimed in a video, additionally shared on social media, concerning the difficulties he confronted in getting shipments launched and alleged negotiations for bribes.
Chennai customs rejected the agency’s claims, calling them false allegations, and alleged in a publish on X that the entity has a longtime sample of creating unsubstantiated allegations of corruption and bribery in social media, solely to delete the publish later.
Why the finance ministry stepped in
The transfer by the finance ministry comes within the backdrop of the federal government implementing a sequence of taxpayer-friendly initiatives lately. These embrace the adoption of a taxpayer constitution, the introduction of faceless customs procedures, and the institution of appellate our bodies for dispute decision—with the target of enhancing transparency and selling ease of doing enterprise, said the ministry.
The federal government has over the previous 10 years taken steps to ease the compliance burden in customs process as a part of enhancing India’s ease of doing enterprise rating and likewise as a part of the drive in the direction of paperless processing through the covid interval.
What Chennai Customs mentioned
Chennai Customs authorities mentioned in a press release posted on X that a few of the consignments of the corporate had been discovered to be misclassified and that the importer couldn’t produce the required atmosphere certifications, including that “allegations of harassment and non-cooperation are demonstrably false”.
Chennai Customs authorities alleged that the importer’s social media posts reveal a calculated sample of “allegations of corruption when going through official scrutiny,” adopted by deletion of his thread when info of violation by the importer are positioned on file.
“This selective narrative is a deliberate tactic to stress officers into releasing cargo with out following due course of. We categorically state that each motion taken was legally mandated, procedurally correct, and primarily based on documented violations found throughout examination. Chennai Customs is not going to be deterred by false allegations from performing its statutory duties. We stay dedicated to lawful, clear, {and professional} conduct whereas implementing rules designed to guard public well being, shopper security, and environmental requirements,” mentioned the customs authorities.
In addition they mentioned that at no stage was any fee or bribe demanded and that every one queries pertained strictly to obligatory statutory compliance below Battery Waste Administration Guidelines 2022, BIS Act 2016, Authorized Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Guidelines 2011, and Customs Act 1962.
