Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XVII — Miscellaneous

Section 149. Amendment of documents

Customs Act, 1962

Bare Act

Amendment of documents. — Save as otherwise provided in sections 30 and 41, the proper officer may, in his discretion, authorise any document, after it has been presented in the custom house to be amended in such form and manner, within such time, subject to such restrictions and conditions, as may be prescribed:

Provided that no amendment of a bill of entry or a shipping bill or bill of export shall be so authorised to be amended after the imported goods have been cleared for home consumption or deposited in a warehouse, or the export goods have been exported, except on the basis of documentary evidence which was in existence at the time the goods were cleared, deposited or exported, as the case may be.

Provided further that such authorisation or amendment may also be done electronically through the customs automated system on the basis of risk evaluation through appropriate selection criteria:

Provided also that such amendments, as may be specified by the Board, may be done by the importer or exporter on the common portal.

Judgments on Section 149

  • Jaina Marketing And Associates vs Union Of India And Ors — Delhi High Court, 30 Mar 2026. Where duty that was never payable is refunded after prolonged departmental delay in re-assessment and refund, interest at the statutory rate is payable from the date of the importer's first re-assessment application to…
  • M/S Shah Nanji Nagsi Exports Pvt. Ltd vs Union Of India — Supreme Court of India, 19 Aug 2025. Once exports are genuine and fall within the notified category, inadvertent procedural lapses that have been rectified under statutory authority (such as amendment of shipping bills under Section 149 of the Customs Act,…
  • M/S.G.T.India Private Limited vs The Commissioner Of Customs (Exports) — Madras High Court, 13 Nov 2024. Procedural irregularities in complying with the Re-export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Customs Duties) Rules, 1995 cannot defeat an importer's substantial right to drawback where the goods remained in customs custody,…
  • Hemant Bohra vs Commissioner Of Customs-Nhava Sheva -… — CESTAT, 26 Aug 2024. Drawback provisions being an incentive-oriented scheme for augmenting exports, procedural requirements such as Rule 13(1)(a) documentation and Section 149 shipping bill amendment must receive a liberal construction and…
  • Yash Pakka Limited vs Lucknow Prev — CESTAT, 14 Feb 2024. Under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, a shipping bill may be amended or converted even after export if supported by documentary evidence in existence at the time of export, and a circular's self-imposed time limit…
  • Seco Tools India (P) Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs-Air Cargo… — CESTAT, 29 Sep 2022. A Board circular cannot curtail the amendatory power under section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 by imposing time limits or restrictions not contemplated in the parent statute, so a request for conversion of shipping…
  • M/S.N.C.Alexender vs The Commissioner Of Customs — Madras High Court, 9 Jun 2022. Show cause notices and adjudication orders issued by DRI officers are valid because they are appointed as 'Officers of Customs' under Section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962, and Section 97 of the Finance Act, 2022…
  • M/S Louis Dreyfus Company India Pvt. Ltd vs Union Of India — Gujarat High Court, 20 Aug 2026. An exporter who ships sugar under the restricted export policy with the specific permission of, and conditions prescribed by, the Directorate of Sugar cannot be denied the RoDTEP rebate, since the basic objective of the…
  • M/S. Samyak Synthetics Pvt Ltd vs Union Of India (2026:Rj-Jd:3620-Db) — Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur, 20 Jan 2026. An exporter who inadvertently leaves the default 'N' instead of 'Y' in the MEIS declaration on a shipping bill cannot be mechanically denied the benefit where the intention to claim is otherwise manifested, and the…
  • Nissan Motor India Private Limited vs Chennai (Port Export) — CESTAT, 26 Nov 2025. A post-export amendment of a shipping bill cannot be refused under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 where the supporting documentary evidence existed at the time of export, since a mere procedural lapse in making a…
  • M/S Konkan Specialty Polyproducts… vs Union Of India — Karnataka High Court, 13 Nov 2025. An inadvertent error in the MEIS declaration on a shipping bill, curable by amendment under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, cannot defeat a genuine exporter's reward, because errors in human institutions, whether…
  • Turbo Energy Pvt Ltd vs Cc Air Cargo Ch - Vii — CESTAT, 14 Oct 2025. Discretion under the proviso to Rule 12(1)(a) of the Drawback Rules, 1995 must be exercised in a free, fair and impartial manner, and furnishing clear and cogent reasons for allowing or rejecting a drawback request is…
  • M/S Lulu International Shopping Malls Pvt Ltd vs Central Board Of Indirect Taxes And… — CESTAT, 2 Jun 2025. Classification of goods is a matter relating to chargeability and the burden of proof lies squarely upon the Revenue, which must adduce proper evidence and apply the General Rules for Interpretation of the Tariff before…
  • John Deere India P Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs-Pune — CESTAT, 13 Dec 2024. Where shipping bills are converted under section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, the date of export for computing limitation under the Drawback Rules, 2017 must be deemed to be the date of conversion, not the original let…
  • Ms Yash Pakka Limited vs C.C. Lucknow — CESTAT, 23 Aug 2023. A request under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 for conversion of free shipping bills into drawback shipping bills cannot be rejected without affording the exporter an opportunity of hearing — an order passed…
  • Jindal Drugs P Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs -Nhava Sheva -… — CESTAT, 15 Dec 2022. A request to amend a shipping bill under section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 should be permitted unless established evidence exists that the goods were not in conformity with the details furnished in the shipping bill,…
  • Posco Maharashtra Steel Pvt Ltd vs The Commissioner Of Customs-Mumbai… — CESTAT, 7 Dec 2022. An amendment request under section 149, Customs Act, 1962, may be refused only for sufficient reason after notice and hearing; ascertainability of the facts at the time of export — not mere lapse of time under a…
  • M/S Air India Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs (Export), Acc, Mumbai — CESTAT, 22 Dec 2015. Conversion of a free shipping bill into a drawback shipping bill is permissible under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, subject to establishment of the identity of the exported goods with the imported goods to the…
  • Commissioner Of Customs & Central Excise vs M/S Kodak India Ltd — CESTAT, 2 Jul 2009. Where the market price of goods as on the date of export cannot be ascertained, no drawback can be allowed under Section 74, and conversion of a free shipping bill to a drawback shipping bill is impermissible as…