We want to import pre-fabricated buildings and donate to the victims of the recent landslide in Wayanad, Kerala. This will help quicker rehabilitation of the people who have lost their houses in the natural disaster. Can we import such items without licence and if so, what is the classification and what are the conditions to be fulfilled? What is the import duty on such items? Has the government given any duty concessions for such imports mainly with intention to donate to the victims of the landslide?
Prefabricated buildings fall under the tariff heading 9406. Modular building units of steel fall under the tariff line 94062000. All the items under the heading 9406 can be imported freely i.e. without an import licence. There are no conditions to be fulfilled for imports of the pre-fabricated buildings. For all the items falling under 9406, the basic customs duty (BCD) rate is 10 per cent, the social welfare surcharge is 10 per cent of the BCD and IGST rate is 18 per cent. Thus, the aggregate duty works out to 30.980 per cent. The government has not announced any duty concessions for imports of items to be donated to the victims of the landslide in Wayanad, Kerala.
We refer to ‘The Bills of Lading Bill 2024’ (Bill 111 of 2024 dated 6th August 2024) presented in Parliament. What does the proposed Bill intend to do that is different from what the present ‘The Bill of Lading Act, 1856’ does?
Essentially, the idea is to incorporate a new provision giving powers to the Central government to issue directions to carry out the provisions of the proposed legislation. Otherwise, I see nothing new. The substantive aspects of the said 1856 Act remain the same. From the Statement of Objects and Reasons, I can surmise that the government wants to replace the pre-independence statute with a new legislation with a view to bring it in line with modern legislation and facilitate simplification and ease of understanding, without changing the substance or spirit of the existing 1856 legislation.
We had made an application for EPCG (Export Promotion Capital Goods) authorisation in 2018, where we had wrongly taken the entire past three years exports of our company to work out the annual average exports instead of counting only the exports of the products that are same or similar to the export product given in the application. Moreover, we also did not deduct the exports made in discharge of the export obligation during the three years prior to the date of the application. We realised our mistake when we found that our exports are not enough to maintain the annual average exports mentioned in the EPCG authorisation and also fulfil the specific export obligation. Is there a provision to ask for an amendment to the annual average exports endorsed in the authorisation?
To get a mistake corrected, no specific provision is necessary. You may apply for a suitable amendment submitting your revised CA certificate giving correct figures and explaining your case.
First Published: Aug 19 2024 | 10:33 PM IST
