Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XVII — Miscellaneous

Section 146. Licence for Customs Brokers

Customs Act, 1962

Bare Act

Licence for customs brokers-

(1) No person shall carry on business as a customs broker relating to the entry or departure of a conveyance or the import or export of goods at any customs station unless such person holds a licence granted in this behalf in accordance with the regulations.

(2) The Board may make regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section and, in particular, such regulations may provide for -

(a) the authority by which a licence may be granted under this section and the period of validity of such licence;

(b) the form of the licence and the fees payable therefor;

(c) the qualifications of persons who may apply for a licence and the qualifications of persons to be employed by a licensee to assist him in his work as a customs broker;

(d) the manner of conducting the examination;

(e) the restrictions and conditions (including the furnishing of security by the licensee) subject to which a licence may be granted;

(f) the circumstances in which a licence may be suspended or revoked; and

(g) the appeals, if any, against an order of suspension or revocation of a licence, and the period within which such appeal may be filed.

Judgments on Section 146

  • M/S Orbit Trans Express & Freight Pvt Ltd vs The Principal Commissioner Customs… — CESTAT, 30 Apr 2024. Section 117 of the Customs Act, 1962 applies only where no express penalty is elsewhere provided, and a courier agent or customs broker acting as a mere facilitator, absent mens rea, cannot be penalized for the omission…
  • M/S Pigeon International vs The Principal Commissioner Of Customs -… — CESTAT, 30 Apr 2024. In the absence of mens rea, a customs broker or courier agent acting as a mere facilitator of customs transactions cannot be penalized for the omissions or commissions of the importer/exporter, and a venial procedural…
  • International Cargo Services vs Ahmedabad — CESTAT, 11 Apr 2022. Revocation of a Customs Broker's licence must be commensurate with the gravity of the offence and, being an extreme and harsh punishment, should be imposed only in the rarest of rare cases of serious irregularity or…
  • Aramex India Pvt. Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs — CESTAT, 16 Sep 2016. A courier licence cannot be revoked for the fraudulent acts of employees committed on their own for personal gain outside the scope of employment where the company itself was not complicit, as revocation in such…
  • The Couriers Association Of India vs The Union Of India And Ors — Bombay High Court, 22 Dec 2014. A writ court will not interfere under Article 226 with a pure policy decision prescribing a qualifying examination for persons handling customs clearance, where the affected employees remain eligible to take that…