Why are customs officials so ill-reputed?

Customs officers are responsible for helping to prevent the importation of illegal and/or dangerous goods including firearms, drugs, alcohol, tobacco and endangered animals in India. Customs officers are hence trained to remain keen and have a sharp eye on each passenger who comes on or leaves the country from airport or seaport. They are trained to identify any suspect whom they feel like should be carrying any such illegal item. They sometime may get an ill reputation because of the type of work that they do, suspecting is an integral part of their job. They might stop you when you are in a hurry for another flight after landing from one. Thorough scanning and scrutiny of suspects is what comes to them as a responsibility that they have to keep up to. Deportees are also handed over to them once they arrive at the airport who are then handed over to the respective authorities.

1 Upvote 1 Upvote 0 Downvotes

• • Report Abuse
• Comment

Like soldiers prevent any illegal entry of unauthorized person entering our nation, it's the same for custom officers too, Yes, they are harsh and very rigid with rules and regulations, but that's their Job. They will not entertain any illegal or more that what is allowed to be carried in the country. Passenger comes with so many restricted items, and then refuse to pay duty on the same , then they start arguing unnecessary, despite of knowing what the customs regulation are. While landing, there are lot of announcements made by cabin crew regarding carriage of currency, liquids and alcohol. But, the announcements are ignored that time. In recent past, illegal goods have been smuggled, in that sense one would expect them to be rude and harsh, but we cannot blame anyone. You can't carry dangerous goods, stuff and expect to escape. That’s the reason there is a myth that these officer are Ill reputed.

1 Upvote 1 Upvote 0 Downvotes

• • Report Abuse
• Comment

Yes, they are harsh and very rigid with rules and regulations, but that's their Job. They will not entertain any illegal or more that what is allowed to be carried in the country. Passenger comes with so many restricted items, and then refuse to pay duty on the same, then they start arguing unnecessary, despite of knowing what the customs regulation are. While landing, there are lot of announcements made by cabin crew regarding carriage of currency, liquids and alcohol. Thank you.

0 Upvotes 0 Upvotes 0 Downvotes

• • Report Abuse
• Comment

A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government. Customs is concerned with the checking and levy of duty on taxable goods brought into the country. Customs officers are responsible for helping to prevent the importation of illegal and/or dangerous goods including firearms, drugs, alcohol, tobacco and endangered animals. Customs officers enforce legislation to stop smuggling. A customs inspector works in law enforcement, enforcing the laws that governs imports and exports. They inspect those entering and exiting the border. Whole custom department is not corrupt. There are few bad fishes which bring bad name to department. Every custom officer interacts with multiple customers who may want to save taxes or do illegal things. This leads to opportunities for revenue leakage and corruption. In additions Indian Finance laws are tough and opportunities for multiply interpretations. This generate ample opportunities for corruption. Sometime young custom officials learn corrupt practices from their seniors. Sometime corruption is institutionalized based on earning potential. Sometime posting are manipulated based on corruption earning potential. However with usage of IT systems, CVC, movement against corruption in India, corruption has reduced drastically.

0 Upvotes 0 Upvotes 0 Downvotes

• • Report Abuse
• Comment

Hello, Whenever one comes back from a trip abroad, custom officers invariably confront us to check whether we have brought any banned item or we need to pay duty on it before we can take it out of the airport. These personnel are doing their job. But it so happens that they have to confront people and sure enough once in a while words are flung at each other. But to paint each and every custom official with same brush and blacken their faces is not correct. While doing job, they have to follow rules and guidelines fixed by the government of India. But it has also been seen that when asked to interpret rules, they many a times take lenient view favoring the passengers. It is of course possible that there could be some rotten eggs but then we cannot generalise our opinions based on such examples.

0 Upvotes 0 Upvotes 0 Downvotes

• • Report Abuse
• Comment