In a groundbreaking decision, the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) ordered customs officials to resolve the massive backlog of auction able commodities and vehicles as part of its motion inquiry.
In accordance with the aforementioned directives, Customs has so far collected Rs. 5.34 billion in revenue from the sale of goods at auction.
The FTO launched its own motion investigations in response to reports of a large quantity of confiscated or otherwise uncleared goods and vehicles laying un-disposed at Customs formations across the country, involving stuck up revenue in the billions of rupees.
The Customs Laws, Rules, Customs General Orders (CGOs), and directives provide for the expedient disposal and auctioning of such commodities and vehicles; nevertheless, the Customs officials were not disposing of them.
FTO gathered data on un-disposed lots ripe for sale for analytical purposes, which indicated that a total of 8,522 lots are un-disposed and still waiting in auction. The FTO authorised the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to eliminate the massive backlog of auctionable items and vehicles.
Furthermore, the Member Customs (Operations) was to personally monitor the aforementioned activity, with disciplinary action to be initiated under the Efficiency and Discipline (E&D) Rules 2020 against Collectors and Directors who failed to comply with this direction.
Customs has auctioned off products worth Rs. 5.34 billion in recent months in accordance with the foregoing directives.
