CAG asks customs dept to ensure periodic audit of SEZs

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has asked the customs department to ensure periodic audits of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are conducted.

It also asked the customs department to ramp up its IT systems to track, monitor submission and renewal of solvency certificates, duty bond and bank guarantee, and risk insurance policy.

In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the CAG pointed out several shortcomings in the current digital record keeping framework for customs bonded warehouses and said the warehouses are not maintaining the records in prescribed electronic formats.


It said if details of the goods removed from warehouses are not maintained properly, the reconciliation and monitoring of monthly returns would become difficult. "Therefore, the department is not in a position to ensure whether the correct duty and interest are paid or the correct bond and bank guarantee are available through record have a control," said the report.