The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has expedited its move to realize revenue worth Tk 3,000 crore that has remained stuck in 6,626 unsettled cases over the years.
Sources said, NBR chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem instructed Customs Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal to take immediate steps to dispose of the cases quickly during a monthly coordination meeting.
According to the NBR, there are 6,626 cases awaiting disposal till July this year. At the beginning of July, the number of unresolved cases was 6,734 and of these, 132 cases were settled in July alone.
During July, 24 more cases were filed with the tribunal.
"As the revenue-related cases are rising, we've discussed the issue in our monthly coordination meeting. The NBR chairman has asked the Customs Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal to take necessary steps to settle all the pending cases as soon as possible," said a top official of the NBR's VAT wing. According to the NBR sources, 30-year-old cases are also on the list of non-payment of VAT and customs duties by public-private importers or many manufacturing and service providing companies. The number of such cases is constantly increasing. Although a deadline has been set by the NBR for disposal of old and new cases since 2012, it has not gained much momentum, said the official.
As per the decision of the coordination meeting, the NBR formed four benches of the Appellate Tribunal that has given some impetus to the disposal of cases. An officer with the rank of member of the NBR serves as the President of the Appellate Tribunal. He is accompanied by four customs commissioners and four district judges.
Dr Md Sahidul Islam is currently the President of the Appellate Tribunal.
Sources said the tribunal is giving more importance to the disposal of cases that have remained unsettled year after year. Due to the crisis of manpower, the tribunal is failing to settle the pending cases.
There was no time limit for disposal of cases till 2012 but the Customs Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal has set a time limit for disposal of customs related cases in 4 years and VAT cases in 2 years.
Along with the tribunal, on July 1, 2012 NBR had introduced an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system to settle the revenue-related cases through an out-of-court settlement. As part of the initiative, separate focal point officials have been appointed to settle the cases.