Businessmen complain that they are facing problems because employees have more access to intermediaries than to service recipients.
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Industrialists and businessmen have urged the Revenue Investigation and Customs Office in Rupandehi not to cause trouble in the name of investigation. Participants in a discussion organized by the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry requested that they not cause trouble in the name of conducting an investigation without any basis for revenue evasion.
Local businessman Devraj Belbase said that smuggling is not possible without the connivance of employees. ‘The state is facing revenue loss due to mistakes made by employees,’ he said, ‘There is a problem because employees have access to middlemen rather than service recipients.’
He said that revenue leakage is being encouraged due to middlemen. He said that service recipients are becoming victims because the chief is not aware of the problems happening within his own office.
Tilottama Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Gyanendra Karki said that there are many problems in the district due to the open border and that the revenue and customs offices should work to solve them. ‘If the bodies under the Home and Finance Ministries work well, reform is possible,’ he said, ‘Those who follow the policies and rules should be encouraged, and those who violate the rules should be taken action.’
He said that everyone feels that wrongdoing is happening in the economic sector in the district, but the problem is that government bodies are not aware of it. Bishnu Sharma, former president of the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that businessmen are not clear about what facilities they have received or not from the Bhairahawa Customs Office at the Belhiya border. ‘We should be informed about the facilities provided by customs,’ he said, ‘and only then can we ask questions about the customs operations.’
He said that the local government should also play a role in informing businessmen about the services/facilities provided by customs. ‘It is not the old customs,’ he said, ‘Services and facilities are being upgraded, we should be aware.’
Mahendra Kumar Shrestha, former president of the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that although businessmen have been raising their voices for a long time to end the middleman trend prevailing in government bodies, they have not been heard. ‘What is the strategy to end middlemen in the revenue and customs offices?’ he asked, ‘At least implement the provisions of the act and procedures honestly.’
Kul Prasad Neupane, former president of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the change in the behavior of government employees after the Gen-G movement in the country is positive. Thakur Kumar Shrestha, current president of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that it is a sad fact that even after the change of the head of the Revenue Investigation and Customs Office in the district, industrialists and businessmen complained the same thing, but there was no improvement in the behavior.
‘It is a problem when the police send vehicles with bills to the Customs and Revenue Office for investigation,’ he said. ‘If there is evidence with the vehicles taken under control, they should be returned immediately. The office should not be kept in the office and the middleman should dominate.’ He said that the mentality of pursuing cases as usual should end among the police and employees.
Radheshyam Dahal, chief of the Revenue Investigation Office, Butwal, said that the office is not in favor of causing trouble to any businessmen. ‘Revenue evasion is not protected,’ he said, ‘Businessmen with good billing should no longer be afraid.’
He said that action will be taken after understanding the reality and seeing whether there is revenue leakage or not. Bhairahawa Customs Office Chief Harihar Poudel said that there is a problem in providing efficient services as the customs premises are currently in disarray. ‘Improvements will occur after the construction of the ICP is completed,’ he said, ‘It is necessary to be practical in many things while staying in the border area. Therefore, there is no hesitation in providing services.’
Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Netra Prasad Acharya said that since Rupandehi is an industrial and commercial district, it will be related to the services provided by the revenue and customs offices here. Since food and other materials are supplied from here to the districts of Lumbini and Gandaki Province, goods from many commercial establishments are sent in the same vehicle.
If someone is found to have customs evasion goods in such vehicles, he urged that action should be taken only against the person concerned and the vehicle should be returned. "Many businessmen come to the association and complain about the office," he said. "We have organized a discussion so that we do not have to hear such complaints in the future."
