Highest growth in 12yrs despite CoronaCtg Customs revenue hits Tk 515bn in FY 21

Chattogram Customs earned Tk 515.65 billion in revenue in the just-concluded 2020-21 fiscal, posting the highest growth in the last 12 years.

The revenue is also 23.20 percent higher than the previous year and the growth is second-highest in the last 25 years, said the Customs sources.

Chattogram Customs’s income increased by Tk 97.11 billion from the previous fiscal year although export-import businesses were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic globally.

With this, an organisation under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) achieved a revenue income exceeding the milestone of Tk 500 billion for the first time.

Insiders said sincere efforts by the customs officials and staff led by Commissioner Mohammad Fakhrul Alam were behind the achievement.

Customs commissioner Fakhrul Alam attributed the success to the prevention of false declarations in imports, reining in irregularities and ensuring good governance.

“The irrelevance between the declaration of HS code and the actual price of the goods, and other false declarations were also almost brought under the control,” he said.

“Besides, we also detected some anomalies in post-clearance audit and earned some more revenue through it. The auction activities of goods were also expedited,” the commissioner said.

He said some 22 criminal cases and four money laundering cases were filed against the people who were engaged in irregularities and mismanagement.
He said actions were taken to keep the revenue earning smooth and prevent forgeries.

Besides, departmental cases were filed against many officials and employees while licences of C&F agents were suspended for their involvement in irregularities, the commissioner said.

“We also tried to make the assessment and clearance quicker to facilitate the trade throughout the year,” he said.

Mohammad Fakhrul Alam said, “The customs house has not been kept closed for a single hour during the coronavirus pandemic and remained ready to provide service round-the-clock.”

“I hold public hearing regularly in a bid to ease customs-related activities,” he added.

“I also keep the door of my office open for all so that anyone can talk to me about the services.”

“The achievement is the result of the combined steps taken in this regard. It is also a matter of pride to have the success despite the coronavirus pandemic,” said the Chattogram Customs boss.

The customs house earned revenue of Tk 418.54 billion in FY 20.