Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise & Customs
Circular No. 13/2016-Customs
Dated: the 26th April, 2016
To,
All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs/Customs
(Preventive),
All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs & Central
Excise,
All Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs/Customs (Preventive),
All Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise,
Sir/Madam,
Subject: - Relaxation of Know Your Customer (KYC) norms
Kind reference is invited to Board’s
Circular No. 07/2015 dated 12.02.2015 on
the subject cited above wherein Board has relaxed KYC norms, which all the authorized courier
companies were required to fulfill. Earlier two documents, one for proof of identity and other for proof
of address, were required for
KYC verification. However, said circular lays down that in case of an individual
if any one document listed
in the Board
Circular No. 9/2010-Cus dated 08.04.2010 contains both proof of
identity and proof of
address; the same shall suffice for the purpose of KYC verification.
- Representations have been received from the Express Industry Council of
India highlighting
problems being faced particularly in case of import consignments meant for an
individual, where two
documents, one for proof of identity and other for proof of address are required
for KYC verification. Many
a time, individuals possess proof of identity in the form of prescribed
documents but the address
mentioned in the document is not the address where the individual is staying.
Individuals often find it
difficult to produce present/current proof of address.
- After examining the issue, Board has decided that in cases where the proof of
present address is
not available with the individual, the proof of identity collected at the time
of delivery along with the
address recorded for the delivery purpose by the courier companies would suffice
for KYC verification.
The courier company would keep a record of the address where the goods are
delivered and the same
would be treated as proof of address of the individual. However, courier
companies must show due
diligence in maintaining the records of proof of address. The above dispensation
for proof of address
would be available only in respect of individuals for import of documents,
gifts/samples/low value dutiable
consignments upto the maximum CIF value limit of Rs. 50000/-.
- Suitable Public Notices may be issued by the jurisdictional Chief
Commissioners.
- Difficulty faced in this regard, if any, may be brought to the notice of the
Board.
Yours faithfully,
(Zubair Riaz)
Director (Customs)
F.No.450/178/2015-CUS-IV
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