HDFC Bank starts online customs duty payment facility for customers

HDFC Bank’s integration with Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) ICEGATE platform has gone live, allowing customers to pay for their customs duty directly via the bank.

With this, the bank will offer customers the convenience of directly paying customs duty by selecting HDFC Bank, the lender said on Friday. This follows authorisation by the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts of CBIC to collect IGST on import and export of goods and services. HDFC Bank said it has facilitated both retail and wholesale payments of customs duty.

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With HDFC Bank on board, clients would no longer need to route payments through other bank accounts. This integration also offers the bank the opportunity to acquire current accounts of customers who bank with others that do not offer this facility, it said in a release. RBI regulations permit opening of current accounts for specific purposes like statutory payments. “Digital payments of customs duty will help improve ease of doing business in India,” said Smita Bhagat, Group Head of Government and Institutional Business, Partnership and Inclusive Banking Group Startup Banking, HDFC Bank.

Online customs duty collection will bring in transparency and efficiency at scale. There is a massive surge in online payments due the pandemic-imposed restrictions and government initiatives like demonetisation, GST, Digital India, and mandatory e-invoicing, Bhagat said. The bank was appointed as the first agency bank by the RBI in 2001 to digitise tax collections.

“Based on this experience two other banks were inducted in 2003. Today, as the largest private sector agency bank in India for tax collection, we strongly believe that a partnership between the government and private players has the power to transform lives,” Sunali Rohra, Executive Vice President, Government and Institutional Business & Gig Banking, HDFC Bank, said. HDFC Bank is the second largest agency bank to the government for collections of direct taxes, and for GST payments.

The lender said various state governments have also authorised the bank for different types of collections such as, stamp duty, registration fees. The bank is also integrated with government’s GeM portal for accepting Caution Money Deposit for procurement through the portal. The bank said it processes about 10 per cent of total DBT payments to the beneficiaries of various government schemes like MGNREGA, PMAY, and PMSKY.