The lack of a chief at the Bardiya Customs Office has led to delays in cases and administrative work, directly impacting import-export and revenue collection.
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About 6 months ago, the office chief of Bardiya Customs Office, Dhan Bahadur Shahi, was transferred to Nepalgunj. Even after six months of the transfer, the absence of the customs office chief has affected the work of the office, including cases.
There are 3 customs offices, including 2 sub-offices, operating under the Rajapur Main Customs Office. Rajapur Main Customs, Taratal and Gulariya Sub-offices are operating. Pramod Kumar Mehta, the information officer of the customs, said that 16 people are currently working in permanent posts across the district, including 6 deputy sub-officers and 4 office assistants. He said that an officer has to be called from Nepalgunj when making decisions on cases and other matters.
The small customs office in Taratal has been operating with the help of two office assistants. Although there are two office assistants, they take turns taking leave from time to time. For the past two years, the office assistants have been in charge of the office. Although there is a Nasu post here, employees are deployed from Gulariya when necessary, said Mehta, the information officer.
Even though goods are brought here from the Indian border, the revenue collection is low due to the Taratal small customs office, which is about 1 km away. The annual target for this fiscal year is 1.5 million. He said that due to lack of manpower, goods were not caught when they were smuggled in by evading customs.
The Armed Police Force checks the goods at the border and sends them to customs, but when they are smuggled through intermediate routes, the revenue has not been collected as promised. Sources from the Taratal small customs office have claimed that if employees are deployed according to the manpower, they will be able to collect about 5 million more in revenue annually.
Since six small customs offices have been closed, the revenue from goods imported and exported through this checkpoint is zero. The small customs offices at the eastern Paderia, Ganeshpur and western Chedapur, Dhanaura, Kothiyaghat and Ishworiganj checkpoints in the district are not operational after being shifted elsewhere during the conflict.
The customs office has stated that it has collected 191 million 82 thousand in revenue by mid-Falgun against the target of 31 million 93 thousand in revenue for this fiscal year. Most of the revenue collected by the Armed Police Force and Nepal Police have recovered and returned goods that were smuggled in through customs.
