E-payment of Customs duty for importers paying Rs 1 lakh or more has been made mandatory by the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC).

The date from which e-payment will be mandatory will be notified soon by the CBEC. In 2007, e-payment facility was introduced on a voluntary basis.

The Board has clarified that Accredited Importers, under the Custom Accredited Client programme, will need to pay any amount of duty through electronic mode only.

Lower transaction cost

Besides expediting the process of payment of duty and clearance of imported goods, the facility of e-payment has resulted in reduction of transaction costs, says CBEC.

Any importer wanting to make use of the e-payment facility first needs to have an Internet account with a designated bank.

Payment gateway

The Board has set up a dedicated payment gateway called, ICEGATE'.

If the importer is registered on this Web site, it can easily use the e-payment facility with the current log-in facility.

Those that are un-registered can also use the Web site as an unregistered user'.

The Board has said that the importer need not produce any proof of payment for the clearance of goods in case of e-payment.