SA Revenue Service Customs has put its money where its mouth is in terms of accountability and adjusted the service charter to address issues of concern around delays.
“The service charter is very important and it’s critical that you hold us accountable based on specifics in the charter,” Customs executive Olebogeng Ramatlhodi told delegates at a business breakfast in Johannesburg last week. “We have had complaints about the registration process taking too long and preventing importers from getting on with their business.
“The current charter has changed the turnaround time from 10 days to five – and 21 when we have to physically go out to do an inspection.” Declaration processing delays are another bugbear.
“In excess of 90% of declarations are processed within the first four hours of the declaration touching our systems but there are some instances where there are delays in the process. We are committing to a 48-hour process where a booking has been made and an inspector has gone to do the inspection. Obviously there are delays but we are looking at revamping our inspection value chain to improve this.”
When it comes to refunds Sars is committing to a maximum of 30 days.
“But that doesn’t prevent us from processing the refund as soon as possible.
“Where there is a dispute between a client and ourselves, where there is a schedule and money has to be paid, we are giving ourselves 21 days to process a request from you for suspension of payment.” Some of these, he said, were not in the previous charter.
“New timelines have been set which keep us accountable. We are also formulating dashboards to monitor our progress – and things like NCAP (New Customs Act Programme) will help us to further expedite these processes.”
When it comes to refunds Sars is committing to a maximum of 30 days. – Olebogeng Ramatlhodi
