Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Conclave with the Principal Chief Commissioners, Chief Commissioners and Director Generals of the field formations of the CBIC, in New Delhi, today.

The meeting was also attended by Shri Arvind Shrivastava, Secretary, Department of Revenue (DoR), Ministry of Finance (MoF); Shri Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Chairman, CBIC; members of the CBIC Board, and senior officials of DoR.

On the first day of the CBIC Conclave, Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary addressed and also launched the ICETAB device for export examination, which aims to reduce the transaction cost and turnaround time for trade, thereby improving India's ranking in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI).

During the conclave, presentations highlighted the performance of Customs and CGST zones on key indicators. The CBIC informed the Union Finance Minister about the following key indicators:

During the conclave, the Union Finance Minister directed the zones to prepare an action plan to improve upon various parameters such as GST registration, processing of refunds, and handling taxpayers’ grievances.

During the interaction, Smt. Sitharaman stressed the need to make the GST registration process easier, seamless, and more transparent for taxpayers, with the use of technology and risk-based parameters.

The Union Finance Minister also directed the CGST formations to launch targeted awareness campaigns among taxpayers, trade associations, and industry bodies regarding the mandatory documentation required for GST registration, particularly those related to the principal place of business. This, the Union Finance Minister emphasised, would help reduce rejections and delays in registration and enable faster processing of applications. She also directed CGST Zonal Heads to have a dedicated helpdesk for GST registrations to facilitate the taxpayers in the application process.

The Union Finance Minister highlighted the need to ensure that GST Seva Kendras and Customs Turant Suvidha Kendras are well-staffed, accessible, and properly maintained, so that taxpayers receive timely and quality assistance.

Emphasising taxpayer trust, the Union Finance Minister called for a targeted and sustained focus on grievance redressal, ensuring the timely resolution of queries and complaints through improved systems and accountability.

Smt. Sitharaman also called for the speedy closure of investigations for Customs & CGST cases, and exhorted for an analysis on detection and recovery and to seek solutions to reduce the gap between detection and recovery. At the same time, the Union Finance Minister emphasised the need for preventing tax evasion and wrongful Input Tax Credits (ITC) claims.

The CBIC was urged by the Finance Minister to expedite the processing of GST and Customs refunds to ensure timely redressal and ease of doing business, especially for MSMEs and exporters.

Smt. Sitharaman appreciated that while the CBIC ranks in the top five out of 90 Central Ministries/Departments in CPGRAMS performance since February 2024, she underscored the importance of promptly addressing public grievances received through CPGRAMS. The Finance Minister also suggested that the CGST and Customs zones may dedicate teams within the zones to further expedite the resolution of grievances.

The Union Finance Minister urged the Customs to reduce dwell time at seaports, airports, and Inland Container Depots (ICDs) for both imports and exports, and emphasised that faster cargo clearance is crucial to enhance India’s global trade competitiveness and ease of doing business.

Taking note of pending disciplinary matters, the Union Finance Minister directed that disciplinary proceedings against the officials at different levels be concluded expeditiously in a time-bound manner.

The CBIC was also urged to fill all vacant posts at the earliest, across various levels, to strengthen field formations and enhance administrative efficiency.

Smt. Sitharaman encouraged Chief Commissioners and DGs to actively undertake trade facilitation measures within their jurisdictions and to submit actionable suggestions to CBIC Headquarters for further streamlining of procedures.

****

NB/KMN

Generals Press Release