Customs clearance and CHA services
Licensed customs broking at Indian sea, air and inland gateways, with the classification checked before the entry is filed rather than after it is queried.
Most clearance delays are not caused by customs. They are caused by a document that contradicts another document. A description on the invoice that does not match the classification, a value that does not agree with the remittance, a certificate that names a different consignee. We check the file against itself before it is filed, which is why our queries are rare and short.
Export clearance
Shipping bill filing, classification under the Customs Tariff, valuation support, and scheme documentation for drawback, RoDTEP, Advance Authorisation and EPCG. Examination coordination at the gateway and follow-through to the let-export order.
Import clearance
Bill of entry filing, duty computation, and coordination with the participating agencies — FSSAI, Plant Quarantine, Animal Quarantine, Drug Controller, WPC and BIS — where the commodity requires it. We identify which of these apply at the quotation stage, not on the day the container lands.
Classification and valuation
The HS code decides the duty, the restrictions and often the paperwork. Getting it wrong is expensive in both directions: an over-declared duty is money given away, an under-declared one is a penalty and a delay. We classify against the destination tariff as well as the Indian one, because they are not always aligned.
What a customs clearance agent actually does for you
A customs broker — a CHA, in the older language still used everywhere in Indian trade — is licensed to file with Customs on your behalf. The filing itself is the small part. The work that decides whether a consignment clears in a day or sits for a week is what happens before it: the HS classification, the valuation basis, and whether the invoice, packing list, bill of lading and shipping bill actually agree with one another.
We check those against each other before anything is filed. A description that differs between the invoice and the shipping bill, a unit of measure that does not match the HS code, an AD code not registered at that port — each of these is a query, and a query costs days that no amount of following up recovers.
Export side, that means the shipping bill, e-Sanchit uploads, and the scheme documentation for RoDTEP or drawback where you are claiming it. Import side, the bill of entry, duty computation, and the IGST refund trail. Both sides, the same desk that quoted your freight, so nobody can tell you the delay belongs to another department.
Customs clearance — common questions
What is a CHA and do I need one?
A Customs House Agent, now formally a Customs Broker, is licensed under the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations to file entries on your behalf. You can self-file, but almost every regular exporter appoints a broker because the liability for a wrong entry sits with the importer or exporter regardless.
How long does customs clearance take in India?
An export shipping bill with a clean file is normally processed the same day. Imports are typically one to three working days, longer where a participating government agency has to certify the goods or where the consignment is selected for examination.
What causes the most clearance delays?
In our experience: a description mismatch between invoice and packing list, a missing or expired licence or registration, an HS code that triggers an agency requirement nobody expected, and valuation queries on related-party transactions.
Do you handle clearance at ports you are not based at?
Yes. We work the twelve gateways listed on our network page directly and cover the remainder through appointed brokers under our own file, so the accountability stays with us.
What does a customs clearance agent charge?
Agency charges are normally a fixed fee per document set, separate from the statutory duty, terminal handling and any examination or detention costs. What varies between agents is not usually the fee but how many queries their filings attract — and a single query costs more in delay than the difference in fee.
What is the difference between a CHA and a customs broker?
None in practice. Customs House Agent was the term used under the older 2004 regulations; since the 2013 regulations the licence is a Customs Broker licence. Indian trade still says CHA, and it means the same thing.
Ready when you are
Send us a lane and roughly what is moving. You will have a firm all-in figure inside a working day.