Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XVII — Miscellaneous

Section 157. General power to make regulations

Customs Act, 1962

Bare Act

General power to make regulations. —

(1) Without prejudice to any power to make regulations contained elsewhere in this Act, the Board may make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules, generally to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-

(a) the form 1 and manner to deliver or present of a bill of entry, shipping bill, bill of export, arrival manifest or import manifest, import report, departure manifest or export manifest, export report, bill of transhipment, declaration for transhipment boat note and bill of coastal goods;

(ai) the manner of export of goods, relinquishment of title to the goods and abandoning them to customs and destruction or rendering of goods commercially valueless in the presence of the proper officer under clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 26A;

(aii) the form and manner of making application for refund of duty under sub-section (2) of section 26A;

(aa) the form and manner in which an application for refund shall be made under section 27;

(ab) the form, the particulars, the manner and the time of delivering the passenger and crew manifest for arrival and departure and passenger name record information and the penalty for delay in delivering such information under sections 30A and 41A;

(b) the conditions subject to which the transhipment of all or any goods under sub-section (3) of section 54, the transportation of all or any goods under section 56 and the removal of warehoused goods from one warehouse to another under section 67, may be allowed without payment of duty;

(c) the conditions subject to which any manufacturing process or other operations may be carried on in a warehouse under section 65.

(ca) the manner and conditions for payment of duty and removal of goods under clause (C) of sub-section (1) of section 65A.

(d) the time and manner of finalisation of provisional assessment;

(e) the manner of conducting pre-notice consultation;

(f) the circumstances under which, and the manner in which, supplementary notice may be issued;

(g) the form and manner in which an application for advance ruling or appeal shall be made, and the procedure for the Authority, under

Chapter VB;

(h) the manner of clearance or removal of imported or export goods;

(i) the documents to be furnished in relation to imported goods;

(j) the conditions, restrictions and the manner of making deposits in electronic cash ledger, the utilisation and refund therefrom and the manner of maintaining such ledger;

(ja) the manner of maintaining electronic duty credit ledger, making payment from such ledger, transfer of duty credit from ledger of one person to the ledger of another and the conditions, restrictions and time limit relating thereto;

(k) the manner of conducting audit;

(ka) the manner of authentication and the time limit for such authentication, the document or information to be furnished and the manner of submitting such document or information and the time limit for such submission, the form and the manner of furnishing alternative means of identification and the time limit for furnishing such identification, person or class of persons to be exempted and conditions subject to which suspension may be made, under Chapter XIIB;

(l) the goods for controlled delivery and the manner thereof;

(m) the measures and separate procedure or documentation for a class of importers or exporters or categories of goods or on the basis of the modes of transport of goods.

(n) the form and manner, the time limit and the restrictions and conditions for amendment of any document under section 149.

Judgments on Section 157

  • Mumbai Travel Retail Private Limited vs Mumbai-Air Cargo Import — CESTAT, 9 May 2025. A monetary penalty under Section 112(a) of the Customs Act for a wrong claim of exemption is a civil contravention, not a penalty 'for an offence under the Customs Act' within Regulation 3(2)(c) of the Special Warehouse…
  • Frigorifico Allana P Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs-Nhava Sheva-I — CESTAT, 28 Jun 2024. Breach of conditions appended to a warehouse licence may warrant cancellation of the licence but not penalty under section 117, because imposition of penalty is in the realm of statutory enactment only and regulation 12…
  • 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…
  • Sahaj Impex vs Balmer Lawrie And Co. Ltd — Bombay High Court, 18 Jan 2021. A Customs Cargo Service Provider or custodian cannot charge rent or demurrage on goods seized, detained or confiscated by the proper officer of customs for the certified detention period, must release the goods on…
  • Veeresh Kumar Pm vs The Principal Commissioner Of Customs -… — CESTAT, 20 Aug 2026. Goods whose tariff entry prescribes a 'Free' rate of duty are not 'dutiable goods' under Section 2(14) of the Customs Act and therefore cannot be classified under CTH 9804 ('all dutiable goods imported for personal…
  • Kannur International Airport Ltd vs Cochin-Cus — CESTAT, 23 Sep 2025. Interest under Section 28AA of the Customs Act, 1962 is attracted only where the amount payable is 'duty' under Section 28, and therefore cannot be levied on cost recovery charges, which are not duty.
  • Central Warehousing Corporation vs Ahmedabad — CESTAT, 22 Jul 2024. In the absence of a statutory recovery mechanism and rates and manner specified by the Government of India, cost recovery charges cannot be recovered from a CFS/custodian even under Regulations 5(2) and 6(1)(o) of the…
  • Diamond And Gem Development vs Ahmedabad — CESTAT, 12 Jun 2024. Cost recovery charges for customs officers posted in a customs area cannot be confirmed or recovered from a Customs Cargo Service provider where HCCAR, 2009 prescribes no recovery mechanism and the Government of India…
  • Apm Terminals India P Ltd Main vs The Commissioner Of Customs Ns-Gen… — CESTAT, 17 May 2024. Control of customs areas under HCCAR-2009 confers no authority on customs officers to enforce the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989, a public notice has no legal standing under the…
  • Central Board Of Excise And Customs vs M/S Gmr Hyderabad International… — Telangana High Court, 27 Mar 2024. Cost recovery charges in the nature of salaries of Customs officers performing statutory duties cannot be levied by regulation absent express statutory authorization, and such administrative charges, being a tax without…
  • M/S. Bihar Foundry & Castings Ltd vs Union Of India Through The Secretary — Jharkhand High Court, 4 Mar 2024. After the omission of 'where it is possible to do so' w.e.f. 29-03-2018, the six-month adjudication limit in Section 28(9)(a) for Section 28(1) demands is mandatory, and breach of that limit or of the mandatory…
  • Aramex India Pvt Ltd vs The Union Of India And 2 Ors — Bombay High Court, 2 Feb 2023. An administrative order—such as refusal to renew an authorized courier's registration—that visits a party with civil consequences must be passed in conformity with the rules of natural justice, including an opportunity…
  • M/S.Sherisha Technologies Pvt. Ltd vs The Chief Commissioner Of Customs — Madras High Court, 13 Jun 2022. Rent/demurrage on seized imported goods stored in a customs area is waivable for the investigation period under Regulation 6(1)(l) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, but thereafter liability…
  • Green Gold Timbers Pvt. Ltd. Through Its Director Akhilesh Manglik vs Commissioner Of Customs — Gujarat High Court, 12 Jan 2022. A Customs Cargo Service Provider, as defined in Regulation 2(1)(b) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, is not entitled in law to charge any rent or demurrage on goods seized or detained or…
  • M/S.R.M.Trading vs The Principal Commissioner Of Customs — Madras High Court, 1 Jul 2021. A Detention Certificate issued by Customs under Regulation 6(1)(l) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 is merely an eligibility certificate — it does not by itself confer a right to refund of…
  • M/S.Sai Lakshmi Engineering vs The Principal Commissioner Of Customs — Madras High Court, 1 Jul 2021. A Customs Detention/Demurrage Waiver certificate under Regulation 6(1)(l) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 is binding on the Service Provider but is only an eligibility certificate, and…
  • M/S.Sun Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd vs Union Of India — Madras High Court, 2 Jun 2021. Cost Recovery Charges cannot be levied or collected from a Customs Cargo Service Provider in the absence of a notification/Government order specifying the rates under the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations,…
  • The Supreme Industries Limited Through… vs The Central Board Of Indirect Taxes And… — Bombay High Court, 8 Mar 2021. In case of repugnancy between a validly made subordinate legislation and a private contract, the contract must yield; a detention cum demurrage waiver certificate issued under Regulation 10(1)(l) of the SCMTR, 2018…
  • The Commissioner Of Customs (Ii) Zone… vs Poonma Courier Pvt. Limited — Bombay High Court, 3 Nov 2020. A remedy of representation provided by subordinate legislation (Regulation 14(2) of the Courier Regulations, 1998) is supplementary and cannot supplant or curtail the vested statutory right of appeal to CESTAT under…
  • Shree Shyam Enterprises vs Union Of India & Ors — Delhi High Court, 20 Dec 2019. The prohibition in Regulation 6(1)(l) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 on charging rent or demurrage on seized, detained or confiscated goods is 'subject to any other law for the time being in…

All 26 judgments