Payment bottlenecks, holiday lull hold back 24/7 customs services at ports

Round-the-Clock Customs Services Face Gaps in Payments and Logistics

Bdbusinessdaily.com – Chattogram and Dhaka customs facilities may now remain open around the clock, but many importers are still unable to take full advantage of the extended hours. Restrictions on large-value digital payments outside banking hours, combined with reduced activity by transporters, agents and other clearance partners during holidays, continue to slow the release of cargo.

The move toward 24-hour operations followed a 1 August directive from the prime minister aimed at accelerating trade. Ports and customs houses began operating continuously, creating the expectation that importers could complete formalities and collect goods at any time. In practice, cargo clearance depends on a chain of connected services, and several of those links are not yet available seven days a week.

Digital billing works, but payment channels do not

Port invoices can be generated at any hour, yet payment options remain constrained when banks are closed. The Real-Time Gross Settlement, or RTGS, system is unavailable after normal banking hours, on weekends and during public holidays. It also cannot process payments below Tk1 lakh.

For larger transactions, the National Payment Switch Bangladesh system offers only limited support. Individual accounts can transfer up to Tk10 lakh per day, with a Tk3 lakh ceiling on each transaction. Corporate accounts have a daily limit of Tk25 lakh and a per-transaction maximum of Tk5 lakh. Since many port-related bills exceed those amounts, businesses often must wait until normal banking services resume before they can settle their obligations.

The Chattogram Port Authority sought changes to that arrangement in a 1 September letter to the Shipping Ministry. It requested uninterrupted RTGS access and the removal of transfer ceilings under NPSB so that payments could continue alongside the new 24/7 port schedule.

“Although the billing system is fully online, the full benefits of digital payment are not being realised due to limitations in existing banking channels and payment gateways,” wrote Chattogram Port Secretary (additional charge) Syed Refayet Hamim.

The issue is particularly important because customs clearance is not completed merely by filing a bill of entry. Importers must proceed through assessment, duty payment, documentation from shipping agents and transport arrangements before containers can leave the port area.

Weekend delivery volume remains below weekday levels

Recent activity at Chattogram illustrates the difference between customs being officially open and the broader clearance system functioning at full capacity. During the 18–19 September weekend, Chattogram Customs House recorded 1,328 bills of entry, completed 31 assessments and collected Tk5.15 crore in revenue.

Container movement, however, was much lower than a normal weekday pace. From 8:00 am Friday to 8:00 am Saturday, the port released 2,423 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. On an ordinary working day, deliveries generally range from 3,500 to 4,500 TEUs.

Port officials identified several factors behind the lower figures, including reduced truck availability and limited participation by private importers. Customs staff also noted that a filed bill of entry only begins the process. If one party in the sequence is unavailable, cargo can remain in place even when customs counters are staffed.

The situation highlights why uninterrupted customs office hours alone cannot guarantee faster trade. Banks, shipping lines, C&F agents, freight forwarders, warehouse operators and transport providers all have practical roles in moving cargo from arrival to final delivery.

Dhaka airport cargo also builds up over weekends

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka is experiencing a similar weekend slowdown. Cargo clearance declines when importers and Clearing & Forwarding agents do not maintain full operations, leaving substantial quantities of goods waiting for release.

HSIA Executive Director Ragib Samad said the airport’s daily backlog of uncleared cargo has climbed to between 400 and 500 tonnes. He called for customs assessments to be enforced across all seven days of the week and for legal mechanisms that would permit the auction of consignments left uncollected for long periods.

Freight forwarders have suggested that weekend staffing may require incentives or special operational arrangements, since businesses face added labour costs when employees work outside the conventional schedule.

Trade groups seek a coordinated seven-day system

Businesses say they have little interest in leaving expensive imported goods at ports or airports. Delays can add storage pressure, disrupt production planning and complicate delivery schedules, particularly when imported inputs are needed for ongoing commercial activity.

“Due to a lack of cooperation or customs complications, we often cannot clear goods quickly despite the high costs of importing them,” said Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Representatives from the trade community argue that the full network of 26 agencies involved in clearance must work in concert if 24-hour customs operations are to deliver their intended benefit. That network includes financial institutions, logistics firms, shipping operators, forwarders and government offices.

“If customs remains open, it must operate as it does on a normal working day. At the same time, all stakeholders must be brought into the process,” said Syed Mohammad Arif, managing director of M&M International.

C&F agents have also raised concerns about holiday staffing within customs. Officers assigned temporarily to branches outside their usual work area may not always have detailed familiarity with branch-specific assessment practices or Statutory Regulatory Orders, known as SROs. That can make complex decisions slower even when staff are physically present.

Kazi Mahmud Imam, former general secretary of the Chattogram C&F Agents Association, said officers transferred to other branches for holiday duty may lack sufficient experience with the applicable assessment rules.

For the 24/7 initiative to achieve its wider trade-facilitation goal, extended customs shifts will need matching access to payment systems, experienced personnel, transport capacity and private-sector support. Until those services operate together, importers may continue to find that continuous official hours do not necessarily mean continuous cargo clearance.