Unauthorised import, export data publication is offence: Government

NEW DELHI: The government has made the unauthorised publication of import-export data a compoundable offence. According to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) notification, the amendments to the Customs (Compounding of Offences) Amendment Rules, 2022, on August 22 by including offences under Section 135AA of the Customs Act.

An offender can avoid prosecution by paying Rs 1 lakh compounding amount. The Budget 2022-23 inserted Section 135AA in the Customs Act that made unauthorised publishing of information such as value or quantity, relating to export or import a penal offence, inviting a jail term of up to 6 months or a fine of Rs 50,000.

According to the notification, the compounding charges to be paid by the offender would be Rs 1 lakh for the first offence. For each subsequent offence, the penalty will be increased by 100% of this amount.
An offender can escape prosecution, in case he opts for paying Rs 1 lakh compounding amount. The compounding authority would be required to satisfy itself that full and true disclosure has been made by the applicant for the compounding of the offence.

The authority will be required to dispose of the compounding application within 6 months.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Union Budget 2022-23 talked about inserting Section 135AA in the customs act to protect import and export data submitted to customs by importers or exporters by publishing such information in their declarations, unless otherwise provided by law, as an offense under the Customs Act.

According to experts, these amendments in the customs act will help in preventing unnecessary litigation as the compounding provisions in the law have been included. This has actually been done to discourage the practice of publishing individual importer/exporter information.

Penalty for the offence
The notification says the compounding charges to be paid by the offender would be Rs 1 lakh for first offence. For each subsequent offence, penalty will be increased by 100%