Customs 2.0 in offing, to provide fully automated stakeholder service: Revenue Secretary

Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Saturday said the customs department is developing a fully automated trade interface system, Customs 2.0, which would also help in improving its score in the World Bank's ranking.

Speaking on the International Customs Day 2024 celebrations, organised by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Malhotra said technology is going to be the main driver in improving customs processes.

The World Bank's Logistics Performance Index 2023, which was released in April last year, had ranked Customs processes at 47th spot, down from 40th position in 2018.

"India is on course to become the third largest economy surpassing GDP of $5 trillion. Yet we are ranked 47th out of 139 countries in the World Bank report'. There is a huge scope for improvement for us not only in terms of score but also in terms of ranking, Malhotra said.

He said that the systems division in Customs is preparing for a Customs 2.0 to ensure that all processes in customs and with all stakeholders will be automated.

"All payments, all interfaces with trade need to be automated so that everything is available with the click of a button," Malhotra said.