India Country Profile

Customs Administration

Individual Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2006, the customs department is generally viewed as rife with corruption, favouritism and nepotism. Corruption within the department affects ordinary citizens and, consequently, the department enjoys little credibility among the general public. This is confirmed in Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2005, in which citizens rank the customs administration as the 5th most corrupt public institution in India.

Business Corruption

Companies can expect routine visits from customs inspectors. As in many other government sectors, customs inspectors hold considerable discretion in deciding which rules to enforce and to whom these should be applied. According to the World Bank & IFC 2004, inspection visits are often arbitrary and excessive, and companies view these visits as a technique of demanding bribes.

Time-consuming bureaucracy related to trade across borders also opens the way for public officials to demand bribes. A significant number of companies in the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2006 report that they expect to give gifts to obtain import licences.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2009:
- A standard export shipment of goods requires 8 documents and takes an average of 17 days at a cost of USD 945 per container.

- A standard import shipment of goods requires 9 documents and takes an average of 20 days at a cost of USD 970 per container.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009:
- Business executives from 134 countries give the customs procedures in India a score of 3.7 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely slow and cumbersome' and 7 'rapid and efficient').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2006:
- 46% of companies report that they expect to give gifts to obtain an import licence.