TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

(CENTRAL BOARD OF INDIRECT TAXES AND CUSTOMS)

NOTIFICATION No. 20/2022-CUSTOMS (N.T.)

New Delhi, the 30th March, 2022

G.S.R. (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by section 157 read with sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 51A of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs hereby makes the following regulations, namely :-

1. Short title and commencement - (1) These regulations may be called the Customs (Electronic Cash Ledger) Regulations, 2022.

(2) They shall come into force with effect from the 1st June, 2022.

2. Definitions.- (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) “Act” means the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);

(b) “authorised bank” means a bank or a branch of a bank authorised by the Government to collect duty or any other amount payable under the Act ;

(c) “electronic cash ledger” means the ledger in the customs automated system relating to a person who deposits the amount in the said ledger in accordance with section 51A of the Act;

(d) “Form” means a form appended to these regulations;

(e) “Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs” means the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the customs station where the person intends to make payment.

(2) The words and expressions used in these regulations and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in the Act.

3. Manner of maintaining Electronic Cash Ledger.- (1) The electronic cash ledger shall be maintained in FORM ECL-1 on the common portal for each person in regard to every deposit made towards duty, interest, penalty, fee or any other sum payable by the person under the provisions of the Act or under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), or the rules and regulations made thereunder or any duties of customs, including cesses and surcharges levied as duties of customs under any other law for the time being in force, for the purpose of crediting the deposit and for debiting when the amount available in the electronic cash ledger is used for making payment towards duty, interest, penalty, fee or any other amount.

(2) The deposit made in the electronic cash ledger shall not accrue any interest.

(3) A unique identification number shall be generated at the common portal when a credit or debit, as the case may be, is made to the electronic cash ledger.

(4) The unique identification number relating to such debit or credit shall be indicated in the relevant Customs declaration.

(5) Any deposit into the electronic cash ledger shall be made by a person by generating a deposit challan in FORM-ECL-2 on the common portal:

Provided that the deposit challan as so generated in FORM-ECL-2 shall be valid for a period of fifteen days.

(6) The deposit under sub-regulation (5) shall be made through any of the following authorised modes, namely:-

(a) internet banking through an authorised bank;

(b) National Electronic Fund Transfer or Real Time Gross Settlement from any bank;

(c) over the counter payment through an authorised bank:

Provided that the limit of the over the counter payment, in case of a person, shall not exceed ten thousand rupees in a day:

Provided further that the said limit of ten thousand rupees shall not apply to deposit made by the Government Department or where the Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs authorises a higher amount to be deposited.

Explanation. — For the removal of doubts it is hereby clarified that for making deposit of any amount indicated in the deposit challan, the commission, if any, payable to the bank in respect of such payment shall be borne by the person making such deposit.

(7) Where the deposit is made through an authorised mode other than the internet banking through an authorised bank, a mandate form shall be generated along with the deposit challan on the common portal and the same shall be submitted to the bank from where the deposit is being made:

Provided that the mandate form shall be valid for a period of fifteen days from the date of generation of the deposit challan.

(8) Upon use of an authorised mode to make deposit, on successful credit of the amount to the concerned government account maintained in the authorised bank, a Challan Identification Number shall be generated by the collecting bank and the same shall be indicated in the deposit challan as generated in FORM ECL-2.

(9) On receipt of the Challan Identification Number from the collecting bank, the said amount shall be credited to the electronic cash ledger of the person on whose behalf the deposit has been made and the common portal shall make available a receipt to this effect.

(10) Where the bank account of the person concerned or the person making the deposit on his behalf, is debited but no Challan Identification Number is generated or such number is generated but not communicated to the common portal, the said person may represent electronically through the common portal to the bank or electronic gateway through which the deposit was initiated.

4. Manner of making payment from the electronic cash ledger .- (1) A person may use the amount available in the electronic cash ledger for making payment towards duty, interest, penalty, fee, or any other sum payable by such person under the provisions of the Act or under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), or the rules and regulations made thereunder ,or any duties of customs, including cesses and surcharges levied as duties of customs under any other law for the time being in force, through payment challan in FORM ECL-3 generated,-

(i) by the customs automated system in accordance with provisions of the Act, rules or regulations made thereunder; or

(ii) by the person on the basis of his own ascertainment of the amount of duty or sum payable by such person.

(2) The person shall select the payment challan so generated under sub-regulation (1) on the common portal for debit of the amount shown in the payment challan from electronic cash ledger of such person :

Provided that, the amount shown in the payment challan shall be automatically debited from the electronic cash ledger by the customs automated system, –

(a) in the case where consent for auto-debit of specified amount has been provided in the customs declaration by the person; and

(b) The amount available in the electronic cash ledger is sufficient for the payment of the entire amount of the payment challan.

(3) The successful debit under sub-regulation (2), shall be visible on electronic cash ledger and the credit shall be shown in the Electronic Duty Payment Ledger (Cash) maintained in FORM ECL-4.

5. Refund.- (1) The balance in the electronic cash ledger, after payment of duty, interest, penalty, fee or any other amount payable, may be applied for refund by the person on the common portal in FORM ECL-5.

(2) Upon receipt of application under sub-regulation (1), the amount applied for from the balance shall no longer be available for use by the person and its refund shall be decided within thirty days from the date of application on the common portal and the amount to be refunded shall thereafter be credited to the bank account of the person registered with customs automated system.

6. Intimation of discrepancy in electronic cash ledger.- A registered person shall, upon noticing any discrepancy in his electronic cash ledger, communicate the same on the common portal.

FORM ECL-1

[See regulation 3(1)]

Electronic Cash Ledger

(To be maintained at the Common Portal)

Type of the Entity

Entity code / /Temporary Id

Name (Legal) –

Period - From ------- To -------- (dd/mm/yyyy)

Act – Customs Duty Payments

(Amount in Rs.)

Sr. No.

Date of deposit /Debit (dd/mm/ yyyy)

Time of deposit

Reporting date (by bank)

Reference No.

Type/Document No/Date, if applicable

Description

Type of Transaction

[Debit (DR) / Credit (CR)]

Amount debited / credited (Total)

Balance (Total)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

Note –

1. Reference No. includes BRN (Bank Reference Number), debit entry no., order no., if any, and acknowledgment No. of the document.

2. Type/Document No/Date, if applicable, for any debit will be recorded, otherwise it will be left blank.

3. Challan Identification Number (CIN) of the challan against which deposit has been made, and type of liability for which any debit has been made will also recorded under the head “description”.

4. Application no., if any, Show Cause Notice Number, Demand ID, pre-deposit for appeal or any other liability for which payment is being made will also be recorded under the head “description”.

5. Refund claimed from the ledger or any other debits from the ledger will be recorded accordingly.

6. Date and time of deposit is the date and time of generation of CIN as reported by bank.

7. The entity code shall be as follows :-

(a) the Import Export Code (IEC) issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for importers/exporters,

(b) Permanent Account Number (PAN) issued by Income Tax Department for Customs brokers, authorised carriers and custodians,

(c) For others, Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) issued by Goods and Services Tax Department if available or on the basis Temporary Identification Number generated through the common portal.

FORM ECL-2

[See regulation 3(5)]

Challan for deposit under section 51A of the Customs Act, 1962

ICEGATE Unique ID

<<Auto Generated after submission of information>>

Date <<Current date>>

Challan Expiry Date --

Entity Type/ Code

<<Filled in/Auto populated>>

Email address

<<Auto Populated>>

Name (Legal)

<<Auto Populated>>

Mobile No.

<<Auto Populated>>

Address

<<Auto Populated>>

Details of Deposit in the Ledger (All Amount in Rs.)

Major Head

Minor Head

Total

8449—Deposits in Electronic Cash Ledger

Total Challan Amount

Total Amount in words

PART – II

Mode of Payment (relevant part will become active when the particular mode is selected)

NEFT/RTGS

Remitting bank

Beneficiary name

Type/Entity code

Beneficiary Account Number (CPIN)

<CPIN>

Name of beneficiary bank

Reserve Bank f India

Beneficiary Bank’s Indian Financial System Code (IFSC)

IFSC of RBI

Amount

Over the Counter (OTC)

Bank (Where cash or instrument is proposed to be deposited)

Details of Instrument

Cash

 Cheque

Demand Draft

e-Payment

(This will include all modes of e-payment such as net banking but will not include CC/DC . Taxpayer will choose one of this)

Note: Charges to be separately paid by the person making payment.

Particulars of depositor

Name

Designation/ Status (Manager, partner etc.)

Signature

Date

Paid Challan Information

Type/Entity Code

Taxpayer Name

Name of Bank

Amount

Bank Reference No. (BRN)/UTR

CIN

Payment Date

Bank Ack. No. (For Cheque / DD deposited at Bank’s counter)

1. UTR stands for Unique Transaction Number for NEFT / RTGS payment.

2. No signature is required for online payments.

FORM ECL-3

[See regulation 4(1)]

Challan for Payment of any sum under the Customs Act, 1962

ICEGATE Unique ID

<<Auto Generated after submission of information>>

Date <<Current date>>

Challan Expiry Date --

Entity Type/ Code

<<Filled in/Auto populated>>

Email address

<<Auto Populated>>

Name (Legal)

<<Auto Populated>>

Mobile No.

<<Auto Populated>>

Address

<<Auto Populated>>

Details of Payment of Duty (All Amount in Rs.)

Major Head

DB/CR

Minor Head

Minor Head

Customs Duty

Tax

Interest

Penalty

Fee

Others

Total

Sub-Total

Integrated Tax

(----)

Integrated Tax

(----)

CESS

(----)

CESS

(----)

Public Accounts

Total Challan Amount

Total Amount in words

Form ECL 4

[See regulation 4(3)]

Electronic Duty Payment Ledger (Cash)

(To be maintained at the Common Portal)

Type of the Entity

Entity code / /Temporary Id

Name (Legal) –

Period - From ------- To -------- (dd/mm/yyyy)

Act – Customs Duty Payments

Part I

(Amount in Rs.)

Sr. No.

Payment Challan No.

Type/Document No/Date, if applicable

Date & Time of payment challan generation / Payment

Reference Number of ECL

Reporting date (by ICEGATE)

Description

Type of Transaction

[Debit (DR) / Credit (CR)]

Amount debited / credited (Total)

Balance (Total)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

Part II

Payment Challan No.

Major Head

Minor Head

Amount

Total

Note –

1. Reference No. includes BRN (Bank Reference Number), debit entry no., order no., if any, and acknowledgment No. of the document.

2. Type/Document No/Date, if applicable, for any debit will be recorded, otherwise it will be left blank.

3. Application no., if any, Show Cause Notice Number, Demand ID, pre-deposit for appeal or any other liability for which payment is being made will also be recorded under the head “description”.

4. Refund claimed from the ledger or any other debits from the ledger will be recorded accordingly.

5. Date and time of deposit is the date and time of generation of CIN as reported by bank.

FORM-ECL-5

[See regulation 5]

Application for Refund of Deposit under Electronic Cash Ledger

1.

Entity Type/ Code

2.

Legal Name

3.

Trade Name, if any

4.

Address

5.

Amount of Refund Claimed(Rs.)

6.

Grounds of Refund Claim (select from drop down)

(a)

End of the Financial Year

(b)

Close of the Business

(c)

Others, Pls Specify :

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the all information provided above are correct and I also declare that I have not utilized this amount by any other means. I undertake to return this amount in case it is found otherwise.

Signature Name Designation / Status

[F.No.442/02/2017-Cus IV(Pt)]

(Ananth Rathakrishnan)

Deputy Secretary