The fresh saga of anomalies in NOC came to light when the customs office in Birgunj on Thursday took control over two tankers that entered Nepal without paying due taxes this week, transporting fuel without complying with basic NOC procedures. [break]
The office had nabbed them when they were returning to Barauni for fresh load, after unloading the fuel in Amlekhgunj depot.
And the preliminary investigation showed those vehicles had i) entered Nepal without paying due customs duty, and ii) brought in fuel without undergoing standard and safety test in Nepal, which is mandatory going by the NOC regulations.
Worse, those tankers had received supplies from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) even without the transport permit letter from the Indian Embassy in Nepal, which is a must-have document for ferrying fuel from India.
Contrary to the way NOC top management is handling the corporation, the regulations of the corporation says transporters getting permission to import fuel from NOC first need to fit on tank, cabin on chassis they purchase in Nepal, get explosive test certification from India and report to the NOC for cross checks and verification. "In case they fit body in India, they will need to pay customs and other duty when they enter Nepal," said the source.
Once this basic customs procedures are completed , NOC issues purchase delivery order for collecting fuel from India only if they qualify in its tests of fittings, epicoat and other specifications. The regulations say fittings and other specification are crucial to ensure safety of the vehicles, its drivers and other staff. Epicoat too must be tested because improper coating can contaminate the fuel, thereby affecting its quality.
"However, in the given case, NOC had issued the purchase delivery order to the tanker operators while they were moving the chassis out to India for fitting chambers (tank), cabin and other body parts on chassis," said the source. Seal on their tanks show they had fitted it in Kolkata.
Based on the PDO they have had, the operators then had collected fuel on their way to Nepal from Barauni. Such unauthorized issuance of PDO also facilitated the transporters to evade duties because customs office considers vehicle bringing in the fuel as ones that have already completed all prior process of customs clearance.
The tankers had unloaded the supply on at Amlekhgunj on Wednesday. However, the customs office came to know of this fishy affair after other tanker drivers and operators created fuss at the depot over NOC flouting its rules to serve the interest of transporters.
"The whole case speaks volumes about corruption in NOC and foul nexus that exists between tanker operators with top NOC management," said the source. "After all, how could IOC Barauni issue fuel without NOC´s approval, and without the involvement of top NOC brass, how could tanker operators manage to get the permission to collect fuel?"
According to a finance ministry official, the customs office has information that three others tankers too have entered the country in the same way. However, transporters informed Republica that additional 18 tankers have already entered Nepal in a similar fashion, inflicting a revenue loss of as much as Rs 4 million to the government.
The 23 tankers, are among the 200 new tankers that NOC inducted recently to collect fuel from Barauni up to Amlekhgunj and Kathmandu, citing long running fuel shortage about a month ago.
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