A malfunction in the Customs Department’s Express Cargo Clearance System (ECCS) since Thursday evening has severely disrupted international courier shipments, causing delays and missed flight connections at major airports across India.
What Happened
The system failure prevented courier operators from obtaining customs clearance for consignments, as they could not submit essential documents like bills of entry and shipping bills required for imports and exports. ECCS is the online platform that facilitates submission of information regarding the consignor, consignee, and product descriptions for all international courier traffic.
This marks the second ECCS outage this month, with the failure first reported on Thursday evening.
CBIC’s Emergency Response
In response to industry grievances, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) directed all customs field units on Saturday to revert to manual processing until the ECCS is fully operational.
“To maintain the flow of trade and prevent disruptions in the transport of time-sensitive consignments, all field units are instructed to implement manual processing and clearance until the ECCS is operational again,” CBIC told customs commissioners nationwide.
Vijay Kumar, CEO of the Express Industry Council of India, acknowledged the disruption but noted the department’s proactive measures: “Although there will be some delays, the department has taken proactive measures to ensure that goods and shipments continue to move”.
