I am a B-Tech graduate in Mechanical Engineering working in IT industry now.I want to know if I can appear for Customs Broker/CHA license as an individual.Also need to know if there are any coaching centers in Bangalore for this license exam as well as any books available with latest syllabus.
There is a C&F family business which I am intending to take over in next 2 years, so want to know how bright is the opportunity for Customs Broker/CHA.
30 January 2014
Customs House Agent (CHA) is a person who is licensed to act as an agent for transaction of any business relating to the entry or departure of conveyances or the import or export of goods at any Customs station.
Essential features of CHA Licensing Regulations, 1984
1. No ceiling for number of CHAs who can be appointed in a Customs House.
2. Issue of regular licence is preceded by a period of grant of temporary licence.
3. Prescribing criteria of experience and financial soundness for appointment.
4. Grant of regular licence is subject to passing examination, satisfying minimum volume of business and complying with obligations under Regulation No.14.
5. Change in the constitution of partnership or firm not to affect the operations of CHA.
6. Commissioners have been empowered to prescribe fees to prevent excess billing by the CHAs. Top Application for licence
Under Regulation 4, every January, the Commissioner of Customs has to notify and advertise and call for applications from persons for acting as CHAs within his jurisdiction. Individuals, firms and companies can act as CHAs. In case of firms and companies, the application has to give the particulars of partner or director who will actually do the work of clearance of goods at the Customs station. Application is made in Form A.
Applications made by the firms or companies should contain full details of the directors or partners. Top
Qualifications of an applicant
The applicant individual working for a firm or a company should be:
- A graduate from a recognized University.
- Should hold a pass in Form G as employee of the firm / company.
- Should have engaged in Customs clearance work for three years.
- Should possess assets of Rs.1 lakhs or Rs.50,000/- as certified by a scheduled bank.
- Reliability of the applicant and soundness of financial status are very important criteria.
- If there are too many applicants than the licenses that can be granted, the Commissioner has to select persons for licensing by seniority of holding G pass. If there are two persons of same seniority, the older person will be preferred [Regulation 8(3)]. Top
Relaxations, which can be granted by the Commissioner:
An applicant need to possess pass in Form G for one year only if permitted by the Commissioner for reasons to be recorded in writing.
DEPARTMENTAL CLARIFICATIONS
Qualification
Various Custom Houses and Commissionerate prescribe certain volume of business as qualification for considering application for regular licences:
1. 150 documents per year (for ex: shipping bill or bill of entry)
2. Clearance or shipment 1500 packages per year.
3. Clearance or shipment of packages of value not less than Rs.60 lakhs.
A G-Pass holder with one year experience may also appear for examination if permitted by the Commissioner for reasons to be recorded in writing. Top Other clarifications as to qualification
1. Diploma in “Customs clearance and freight forwarding” offered by Bombay University is not considered as graduation for the purpose of eligibility.
2. An employee or partner or director of a CHA licensee authorized to take examination under Regulation 9(5) is allowed to take three examinations in a period of two years from the date of application by the licensee for examination.
3. Level of knowledge of local language has to be determined by the Commissioners as the Regulations do not prescribe any requirement. Knowledge of local language by the authorized representative is considered sufficient.
4. A person who passes examination under Regulation 9(5) can apply for independent CHA licence when applications are called for, subject to possessing other qualifications.
5. Persons who were granted CHA licence before the amendment of 1997 prescribing graduation as qualification would continue to qualify for renewal of licence. Top Multimodal transport operators as CHAs
Multimodal transport operators (MTOs) are appointed under Multimodal Goods Transportation Act, 1993 by the Ministry of Surface Transport. Their work involves carriage of goods by more than one mode of transport between India and any place abroad. They handle export cargo stuffing and destuffing. This does not automatically confer any right on them to obtain appointment as steamer agents or CHAs unless thy are otherwise qualified for such appointment. Their role is different from that of a CHA or a steamer agent. Top
Temporary licence
After scrutinizing and accepting the application a temporary licence for a period of one year is granted under Regulation 8 in Form B.
Before receiving the temporary or regular licence, the applicant has to go through another important step. He is required to execute a bond and give a surety or bank guarantee in Forms D and E. For major ports , the surety amount is Rs.25000/- For other ports, it is Rs.10000/- Surety may also be given in the form of National Savings Certificates or postal security. In the last two forms of surety, these should be pledged in the name of the Commissioner. It is important to note that since a regular licence holder is allowed to work in more than one Customs station, separate bond and surety have to be given in respect of each Customs station.
Examinations
Regulation 8 itself refers to two opportunities to a temporary licence holder for writing and passing the examinations. A third opportunity may be given by the Commissioner if the temporary licence holder has met with the minimum work criteria (number of package, value, tonnage, Duty amount etc). This extension of time is granted for minimum six months and maximum one year.
If this extension of time is refused by the Commissioner, a representation can be made to the Chief Commissioner.
The candidate will have three opportunities to pass the examination within two years. One may take examinations as soon as temporary licence is granted. The examination fee is Rs.500/-per appearance.
There will be two examinations each year. There will be both oral and written examinations. A person who passes written examination but fails in oral examination is treated as failed. But, he need not write examination again.
The reference to applicant or candidate or temporary licence holder or regular licence holder must be correctly understood. Where the applicant is an individual, it is the same person who holds the temporary licence and also writes the examination. On the other hand, if the applicant is a firm or company, the person who writes the examination is an employee of the firm or company. But the temporary or regular licence may be issued in the name of the firm or company. This position is clear from Regulations 5 and 6.
Regulation 9(5) allows a CHA to permit one of the employees, or partners or directors to appear in the examination conducted under Regulation 9. This would be in addition to the person already present and who has passed this examination. The person so permitted to appear for examination must be a graduate. But, he need not be a G pass holder or have experience in the capacity of a G pass holder. Top Regular licence
An application for regular licence can be made by a person who has passed the examinations. Application for regular licence is made in Form C. Form A and Form C are almost identical except that while the first form is issued under Regulation 5, the latter form is issued under Regulation10. Licence fee is Rs.5000/-. Regular licence is granted in Form D. The applicant for regular licence has to satisfy following conditions:
A. The applicant must satisfy the norms regarding quantity or value of cargo cleared form the Custom House. This is determined by the Commissioner.
B. The conduct of the applicant during the period of holding temporary licence must be business like. There should be no delay in clearance of goods or in payment of duty on account of conduct of the applicant. There should be no complaint of misconduct of the applicant. There also should not be any complaint of non-compliance of provision of Regulation 14, which casts some important obligations on the CHAs.
Disqualifications for regular licence
Regulation 10(1) specifies that only a person who qualifies in the examination can apply for a regular licence, Nevertheless, sub-regulation (3) provides that the Commissioner may reject the application of a person who fails to qualify in the examination, It further provides that if performance criteria is not satisfied (regarding quantity and value of clearances or conduct), the application may be rejected. A representation can be made against an order of rejection within 30 days to Chief Commissioner. The Chief Commissioner is also empowered to review the procedure of grant of regular licence within one year.
Regular licence granted to a person cannot be transferred [Regulation 13].
Validity of licence
Under Regualtion12 (1), the validity of licence is for a period of five years. Extension of licence
An applicant seeking revalidation or extension of licence has to apply before the validity expires, to the Commissioner. It will be renewed for a period of five years either from the date of expiration of licence or from the date of last renewal of licence, A CHA seeking renewal has to satisfy the Commissioner that he has conformed to the norms fixed by the Commissioner regarding minimum quantity and value of cargo clearance and that he is not guilty of misconduct or that he has not been the cause of delayed clearance of goods or delayed payment of duty. There should also be no complaint that he has violated the obligations cast on him under Regulation 14 read with Regulation 12.
The renewal fee payable is Rs.3000/-[Regulation 12(3)]
A person who has passed examination can act on behalf of another firm or company which is holding a regular licence. But, at any time, he can act for only one such firm or company.
A CHA who has been granted licence cannot acquire a right to obtain office accommodation in the Custom House [Regulation 24]. Top
Working in other Customs Stations
A person holding regular licence can work in all Customs stations as a CHA. If a place has both sea port and international air port, there is no need to seek the facility of separate licence from each place. Otherwise, for this purpose a separate application has to be made to the concerned Commissioner of Customs. The applicant should satisfy the commissioner that he has the financial soundness as prescribed under Regulation 6 [see under "Qualifications of applicant", above]. Such an applicant has to satisfy the Commissioner that he has sufficient clients, that he can provide warehousing and transport facilities. Separate bond and bank guarantee should be given as in given to his regular Customs station, in Forms D and E. Top
DEPARTMENTAL CLARIFICATION
Regular licensees working in other Custom Houses
In terms of the Regulations, a person who is regular licence holder and intends to work in another Custom House will be eligible to obtain a regular licence at any other Customs station from the concerned Commissioner subject to his fulfilling the requirements specified in Regulation10 (2). There is no requirement under this sub-regulation that an employee qualified under Regulation 9 should be available at branch office of the licencee where he intends to obtain regular licence under Regulation 10(2)
Suspension or revocation of licence
A CHA licence may be suspended or revoked within the jurisdiction of Commissioner if there is failure of condition of bond executed by the CHA. Misconduct on the part of CHA or failure to comply with regulations will also result in suspension or revocation of licence. Suspension may be ordered in cases requiring immediate action, pending enquiry. [Regulation 21].
Employment of Persons
A CHA may employ one or more persons for assisting him in his work as CHA. The appointed person should have atleast passed X standard examination. The appointment of a person has to be approved by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner designated for this purposes by the Commissioner. The antecedents of the person and his character are considered before granting approval. A new appointee has to pass an examination within six months which is conducted by a committee of Customs officers, for ensuring that the appointee has adequate working knowledge of the provisions of statutes. Upon failure of the candidate, the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner may grant permission for another appearance. Maximum four such permissions can be granted.
A person who has passed this examination while working under a CHA will not be required to appear for examination when he works for another CHA.
If a CHA authorizes his employee to sign documents, he must file a letter approving such authorization with the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner. If there is any change in the authorization, it should also be communicated in writing to the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner.
The CHA will be responsible for the conduct of his employees and acts of omissions and commissions by them.
Identity cards in Form G
All employees of CHAs are given identity cards in Form G after passing the examination. Till he passes examination, the identity card will be in Form H. At all times during work at Customs station, the person should carry his identity card and produce it on demand. [Regulation 20].
Departmental clarification
Person with experience in Customs Clearance who do not possess minimum qualification of passing 10th standard examination will not be considered for issuing G pass. However, persons who were given such G pass before introduction of minimum educational qualification in 1997 would continue to be eligible for renewal of such pass. Top
Service charges
Every CHA has to enroll himself as a member of a CHA association registered with the Custom House and recognized by the Commissioner. Regulation 25 confers power on the Commissioner to fix rates which may be charged to the client for services rendered by the CHA. This is done in consultation with a recognized association of CHAs. The CHAs are required to strictly adhere to these rates.
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CAclubindia
