RTI Disclosure

Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information Act, 2005

Section 4(1)(b)

Information to be published under the Act

(i)

The particulars of the Organization, Functions and Duties :

The Commissioner of Customs (Airport & Administration), Kolkata has been formed in July 1997 consequent to the re-organisation of the Commissionerate of Customs & Central Excise vide order no. A.11013/34/96-Ad.IV dtd. 15/07/1997.

The Commissionerate of Customs (Airport & Administration), Custom House, Kolkata has jurisdiction over Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata Air Cargo Complex and general administration of customs employees of all cadres.

The N.S.C.B. International Airport, Kolkata was originally named as Dum Dum Airport and was commissioned in 1924 with the arrival of DAKOTA-3 as the first Aircraft. From 1960 to 1969 this Airport continued to be the No.1 Airport in India in terms of Traffic and Passengers. It was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in MARCH 1995 and now it is the busiest Airport in the country. The Kolkata Airport Air Cargo Complex was commissioned as the first cargo terminal in the country in the year 1975.

This organization is responsible to facilitate Importer/Exporters and to enforce customs laws as well as other associated Act and provisions related to the clearance of Imported and Exported goods. Clearance of Import/Export goods are being processed through on-line ICES (Indian Custom EDI System) which provides door step facility to the Importers/Exporters. We have introduced “Sevottam”, i.e. “Public Service Delivery Excellence Model” under which we have endeavored to raise the bar of our excellence and to meet expectation of trade and Industry.

The Airport & Administration Commissionerate is one of the Commissionerate under the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Kolkata. It is an independent Commissionerate. There are various departments/Units under this Commissionerate. The details of wings of this Commissionerate is mentioned in Annexure “A” and organizational structure of this Commissionetate is mentioned in Annexure ‘B’.

Duties/Functions

Sl.No	Name of Sections	Dealing With
1	Personnel & Establishment	General administration, recruitment, promotion, transfer and posting, deputation, maintenance of staff strength, training, allotment of Govt. accommodations, maintenance of APARs, issuance of different types of NOC etc.
2	Airport & Airport Administration	Clearance of international passengers and their baggages, general administration, transfer & posting, VIP protocol duties, maintenance of co-ordination with the different agencies attached with NSCBI Airport and other misc. correspondence
3	Vigilance Unit	All issues pertaining to vigilance matters.
4	SIU	Submission of preliminary enquiry report related to complaints against employees, processing of Immovable Property Return from Govt. employees, issuance of NOC to employees in respect of acquisition/ transfer of movable and immovable property and foreign tour etc.
5	Computer Cell	Procurement/distribution of computer hardware and software, maintenance of departmental hardware and software.
6	Accounts	Related to all payments to Customs employees and all expenses in respect of maintenance of office, maintenance of service records of staff and matters related to pension and budget allocation and realization of govt. revenue through offline mode
7	AIU Section, AIU Cell	Information & intelligence gathering as well as exchange of information/ intelligence related to Airport with other agencies, rummaging of aircrafts, investigation of all airport cases and issuance of show cause notices and adjudication thereof and issuance of disposal order of all seized/confiscated goods & process for sanctioning of Prosecution.
8	Central Adjudication Cell	Processing of Adjudication matters at the level of Commissioner and issuance of final order and issuance of disposal order of seized/confiscated goods.
9	Air Cargo Complex (General administration, import and export, SIIB, EOMC,BRC, Drawback, PCA, EDI, TRA, Bond Section , UB Section)	General administration, receiving of Sevottam etc, clearance of import/ export cargo, investigation of import goods / duty evasion/ IPR, monitoring of export obligation in respect of EPCG/Advance authorization, monitoring of bank realization after export, disbursement of drawback claim against exports made & other related issue, audit of post clearance of imports, updating EDI system and ensuring the functioning and proper utilization of various modules of EDI, registration of export promotion scheme licenses and telegraphic release advice facility, finalization of bonds, clearance of un-accompanied baggage.
10	Record	Safe storage of official records, purchase and supply of stationary goods to the various departments.
11	STRC Cell	Recovery of tax arrears.
12	Co-ordination Unit	Compiling the performance data of different units of this Custom House and transmission of the same to the respective Ministries/Board.
13	Review Cell	Review the adjudication orders passed by the ADC/ JC, DC/AC and ACS by the proper authority.
14	AIU Legal	Filling and follow up of remand petition and prosecution petition before Barasat Court and subsequently higher Courts.
15	Legal Cell	Filling and follow up of petition before High Court/Supreme Court in matters relating to disputes in assessment/ clearance of import/export cargoes. Also deals with matter pending with CAT, Kolkata Bench.
16	Tribunal Cell	Filling and follow up of appeal petition before the CESTAT, Kolkata.
17	RTI Cell	Receiving and processing of all RTI matters and Order in Appeals.
18	SCH Unit	Matters related to maintenance of office and housekeeping
19	MTO Section	Providing vehicles to officers and departments for official use and maintenance of the departmental vehicles.
20	Correspondence Department & Sevottam	Receipt and dispatch of all correspondence, purchase of all types of books and manuals for departmental use, matters related to welfare fund of the staff. Sevottam looks after service delivery, implementation of Citizen’s Charter and implementation of grievances redress system.
21	Appraising Sale Shed/ Disposal Unit	Storage of seized/confiscated goods of international passengers of NSCBI Airport and processing the files related to disposal of the same.
22	Currency Shed	Storage of seized/confiscated currencies and precious metals and jwellerries
23	Special Disposal Cell	Disposal of seized/confiscated goods from NSCBI Airport, Air Cargo Complex.
24	Refund Section	Receipt and processing of all refund cases in respect of Airport Commissionerate.
25	CBS	Issuance and renewal of Custom Broker License for clearance of import/export cargo, issuance of permit/license for employees working under the different types of authorized Custom Broker Agencies for clearing the import/ export cargoes in different segments.
26	IAD	Co-ordination between Custom Revenue Audit Department under CAG with this Commissionerate.
27	COFEPOSA Unit	Processing COFEPOSA cases.

(ii)

The powers and Duties of its officers and employees :

The officers and staff of this Commissionerate (Airport & Administration), Kolkata are committed to its Citizen Charter, to provide to trade and industry time bound and speedy cargo clearance facility, quick redressal of grievances, and inculcating the sense of service in its officers with stress on –

Objectivity and transparency
Integrity and judiciousness
Courtesy and understanding
Promptness and efficiency

Steps are in progress to further professionalize Customs staff to be able to render efficient and prompt service to the clients almost at par with those rendered by other Customs services in developed countries/WCO/WTO norms.

The Powers of officers of Customs have been elaborated in Section 5 of the Customs Act, 1962 and are laid as under –

Subject to such conditions and limitations as the Board may impose, an officer of Customs may exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed on him under this Act.
An officer of Customs may exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed under this Act on any other officer of Customs, who is subordinate to him. The work is delegated to various categories of officers within the framework of the law.

More details on Annexure –“C”

(iii)

The procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability :

This Commissionerate primarily functions as a decision making office in respect of clearance of international passengers as well as import-export cargo, administrative control and supervision of all customs employees below the rank of Commissioner and sharing of information & knowledge between inter-commissionerates & with the Board/Ministry.

(iv)

The norms set by it for the discharge of its functions:

The mission of the organization is to achieve excellence in the implementation of Customs Acts, Allied Acts and Rules there under aimed at;

Creating a climate for voluntary compliance by providing guidance and building mutual trust
Administering the Government's economic, tariff and trade policies with a practical and pragmatic approach.
Realizing the revenues in a fair, equitable and efficient manner
Facilitating trade and industry by streamlining and simplifying Customs and Excise processes in light of the guidelines prescribed and facilitating the Trade and Industry
Combating revenue evasion, commercial frauds and social menace in an effective manner
Maintaining welfare of the employees.

(v)

The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions :

All Rules, Regulations, Instructions, Manuals etc. issued by the Govt. of India in respect of government servants are followed for discharged of duties by the officers. All these particulars are available at the Website www.cbec.gov.in and www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in.

(vi)

A statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control :

Since maximum trade related formalities are processed through remote EDI System through online basis, hence requirement of documents has been reduced substantially. However the following documents are related to this office :

Import-export related document
Legal document in support of (a) above

(vii)

The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by the Member of public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof :

The members of public can write to this office on any such issue or seek appointment for meeting, if required. Further e-help line is available on Kolkata Customs web-site www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in. Arrangements have also been made for holding of separate meetings with Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee and Trade Facilitation Committee on regular intervals.

(viii)

A statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public :

Customs Commissionerate maintains its website http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in - wherein salient information pertaining to various field formations is given for general information of the masses at large. In addition, web-site also contains copy of the Public Notices / Tenders /Standing Orders / Establishment Orders / Trade Facilitation etc. issued by this Commissionerate.

Public Grievances redressal : As a part of implementation of Sevottam, Public Grievances are taken care of immediately after the Complaint/Grievance appears on the portal as well as physical receipt. The replies/reports are issued to the applicant and also posted on the web-site after approval of the Chief Commissioner/Pr. Commissioner.

Trade Felicitation Committee meeting : A trade felicitation committee exists in this Custom House and members of the committee includes Calcutta Customs House Agents Association, Cargo Handling Agents/Steamers Agent Association, various custodians, and various stakeholders etc. The main object of the meeting is to discuss problems related to the clearance of import and export goods and to find solution thereto. The meeting is held at a regular interval.

The meeting is converted into Zonal Trade Felicitation Committee meetings under the chairmanship of Chief Commissioner of Customs as per requirement or if the issues pertain to all the Customs Commissionerates of the Kolkata Zone. All the concerned Assistant Commissioners of Customs/Deputy Commissioners of Customs/Joint Commissioners/Additional Commissioners participate in the said meeting. The agenda of the meeting is set up in advance and the detailed minutes of the meeting is uploaded in the web-site for knowledge of general public and particulars of these meetings are available at http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in

The Citizen’s Charter of the Department envisions that the Customs officers shall carry out their assigned tasks with integrity and judiciousness; courtesy and understanding: objectivity and transparency; promptness and efficiency. The officers are also committed to providing every possible assistance to the public and trade in implementation of the Customs policies and procedures.

In order to take care of the grievance(s)/complaint(s) the department has put in place a grievance redressal mechanism in the field formations of Customs. The grievance redressal mechanism can broadly be categorized as :

Redressal of vigilance complaints
Facilitation for receipt and grievance of complaints/representation at the inward Section in the Commissioner of Customs (A&A).
Prompt handling of the complaints/grievances received through CPGRAMS (Central Public Grievances Monitoring System).

(ix)

A directory of its officers and employees: Particulars are available at http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in.

Attachment

(x)

The monthly remuneration received by each of its officer and employee including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations: Particulars are available at http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in

(xi)

The budget allocated to each of its agency indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made: Particulars are available at http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in

(xii)

The manner of execution of subsidy programs including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programs:

(xiii)

Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorization granted by it: Particulars are available at the website of CBEC, Govt. Of India, Ministry of Finance, Deptt. of Revenue i.e http://www.cbec.gov.in/info-act/customs/customs.htm

(xiv)

Details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form: All the relevant details including the orders passed by this Commissionerate are made available on the web-site http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in

(xv)

The particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use : All the information related to the Commissioner of Customs (Airport & Admin.) are available at http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in

(xvi)

The names, designation and other particulars of the Public Information Officers : The details list of CPIOs and Appellate Authorities of this Commissionerate mentioning their charges are published time to time. Particulars are available at http://www.kolkatacustoms.gov.in

Attachment

(xvii)

Such other information as may be prescribed : NA