‘Null, f/d, comma and full stop’: Cryptic queries in India's customs system deliberate move to ‘signal’ importers

HYDERABAD: India's ‘faceless' customs assessment system—designed to eliminate discretion and curb corruption—is currently under scrutiny following the detection of a troubling pattern of near-empty queries raised during import clearances. Internal reviews across formations, including Hyderabad and Mumbai, indicate that these actions potentially stall shipments and undermine the reform's core objective of reducing human interface.Internal reviews have flagged numerous Bills of Entry (BoE) containing queries with little to no substance. These entries often consist of a few characters or terms such as ‘Null', ‘f/d', ‘comma', and ‘full stop'.According to sources in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, senior officers have assessed these clusters as deliberate rather than accidental. Documents reviewed at the national-level documentation describe these cryptic entries as a tactical manoeuvre used by a section of officers to delay assessments, thereby increasing cargo dwell time—the opposite of the reform's mandate.Beyond the pattern of empty queries, the sources said the department was examining a more serious concern: Whether a section of officers found ways to bypass the anonymity built into faceless assessment. Officials are also probing whether anonymity safeguards in the system were being circumvented.Sources said some assistant commissioners and appraisers, including promoted IRS officers, allegedly raised irrelevant queries designed to serve as "signals" to importers while concealing the officer's identity. Because the system masks the assessing officer, importers would approach local officials to trace the source of the query.Investigators suspect informal networks, including WhatsApp groups, may have been used to identify the officer behind a query. Jurisdictional officers would reportedly share details in these groups, enabling participants to match the query with the issuing officer. Multiple WhatsApp groups were allegedly maintained for this purpose, with officers across jurisdictions using them to connect.Used as conduitsCustoms house agents were allegedly used as intermediaries, and bribes collected to secure clearances, the sources said. Authorities are examining these informal networks, including possible unauthorised sharing of importer and exporter data, with a criminal probe under consideration.Minutes of a recent national assessment centres convenors' conference recorded repeated concern over ‘frivolous' queries of just 0-3 or 3-6 characters. Officials noted such entries did not indicate lack of competence but appeared intentional, serving as a new lever to slow processing.The review also highlighted procedural lapses, including failure to meet the mandatory three-hour window for responding to the first query after allocation. In some cases, BoE were not allocated at all because officers were ‘not attending assessment groups'. Senior officials attributed this to weak supervision at deputy and assistant commissioner levels.Further concerns include inconsistent assessments across national assessment centres, lack of standardisation in queries, and repeated piecemeal questioning for the same commodities despite board instructions. Existing vigilance action against errant officers was described as an insufficient deterrent.Turant Suvidha KendrasAdministrative gaps were also flagged — inadequate training, insufficient nominations by chief commissioners, and heavy grievance loads. Around 90% of complaints received at Turant Suvidha Kendras relate to assessment issues, pointing to systemic stress.Even routine monitoring remains cumbersome, with officers reporting that extracting pendency data and MIS reports from the ICES system can take hours or even months.Together, the findings raise uncomfortable questions about whether a reform meant to reduce human interface and speed up trade is being blunted from within the system itself.