The National Board of Revenue has asked the customs authorities to immediately drive out the outsiders engaged as brokers in different customs houses, mainly in Chittagong Customs House, officials said. The revenue board advised the customs houses to take legal action against the outsiders, locally known as ‘Faltu’, and if necessary take help of law enforcing agencies for driving them out of their premises, they said.
Customs policy wing of the NBR has recently issued an instruction in this regard after a meeting held on August 6 on the findings of a study report of Transparency International Bangladesh that claimed that around 70 outsiders work as middlemen at the CCH on behalf of customs officials.
Customs officials unlawfully appointed the people as their personal assistants to make illegal transactions with traders, according to TIB study revealed on July 14.
TIB report on Automation of Export-Import Procedures in Chittagong Port and Chittagong Customs House also said that importers and exporters had to pay Tk 47.5 lakh per day as bribe to officials and employees of CCH at different stages of customs procedures.
On the other hand, importers have to pay Tk 17.2 lakh per day as bribe to the officials of Citthagong Port Authority at different stages to release their imported goods to avoid harassment, it said.
Such corruption takes place as the NBR could not implement full automation of export-import procedures, it said.
NBR officials said that there were such outsiders at other customs houses too, including Dhaka Customs House and Benapole Customs House, the two big customs offices for trade through land port and airport.
In the letter, the revenue board said that the outsiders should be removed immediately through appointing new manpower for them.
The NBR also instructed the custom houses to use ASYCUDA software in completing export import procedures for ending hassles of traders, officials said.
Officials said that lack of manpower forced the customs officials to depend on the ‘faltus’.
Now, enough manpower is being appointed to reduce corruption and provide hassle-free services to exporters and importers, they said.
Officials of the CCH told New Age that they had already driven out the outsiders after getting verbal instruction from the revenue board.
Now, only customs officials are working at the CCH, they claimed.
-With New Age input
