Payment bottlenecks, holiday lull hold back 24/7 customs services at ports
Stakeholders point out that critical financial infrastructure, specifically the RTGS system, remains offline during non-banking hours, weekends, and public holidays.
Highlights:
- 24/7 customs operations face bottlenecks as banking services remain unavailable after regular hours
- RTGS remains offline during non-banking hours, weekends and public holidays
- NPSB transaction limits prevent importers from settling large port bills outside banking hours
- Weekend cargo deliveries remain below weekday levels despite round-the-clock customs operations
- Stakeholders call for coordination among banks, customs, shipping lines and logistics providers
Round-the-clock operations at Chattogram and Dhaka customs houses have hit a severe bottleneck, as off-hour payment restrictions and limited holiday activity by key supply chain partners prevent importers from clearing cargo efficiently.
Following a directive from the prime minister on 1 August to speed up trade, ports and customs houses transitioned to 24/7 operations.
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However, stakeholders point out that critical financial infrastructure, specifically the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, remains offline during non-banking hours, weekends, and public holidays. Furthermore, transaction limits under the National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB) leave businesses unable to settle large operational bills digitally outside regular hours.
The problem is further compounded by the limited holiday presence of the more than two dozen private and public agencies involved in the clearance ecosystem.
CPA seeks 24/7 payment services
In a letter sent to the Shipping Ministry on 1 September, the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) called for immediate 24/7 availability of RTGS services and the removal of NPSB transfer limits to facilitate uninterrupted payments.
"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.
He noted that while port bills are generated round the clock, RTGS is unavailable after regular banking hours and cannot process amounts under Tk1 lakh. Meanwhile, NPSB caps daily transfers at Tk10 lakh for individual accounts (Tk3 lakh per transaction) and Tk25 lakh for corporate accounts (Tk5 lakh per transaction). Most port bills exceed these thresholds, leaving importers stranded until regular banking resumes.
Holiday deliveries remain low
The operational disconnect is evident in delivery metrics. Over the weekend of 18–19 September, Chattogram Customs House registered 1,328 bills of entry, completed 31 assessments, and collected Tk5.15 crore in revenue. Yet, between 8:00 am Friday and 8:00 am Saturday, the port delivered only 2,423 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs)—far below the 3,500 to 4,500 TEUs handled on a typical weekday.
Customs officials acknowledged that registering a bill of entry is merely the initial step; assessment, duty settlement, shipping agent clearance, and transport logistics must all line up. CPA officials noted that low weekend deliveries also stem from a shortage of available trucks and reduced operations by private importers.
Dhaka airport faces weekend backlog
A similar bottleneck has emerged at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka, where weekend cargo clearance slows dramatically as importers and Clearing & Forwarding (C&F) agents remain closed. HSIA Executive Director Ragib Samad reported that daily uncleared cargo backlogs have reached 400 to 500 tonnes. He urged customs to enforce a seven-day assessment window and establish legal avenues to auction long-overdue consignments. Freight forwarders suggested that incentives or special arrangements might be necessary to offset the additional labor costs of weekend shifts.
Entire clearance chain needs coordination
Addressing the trade community's concerns, Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), emphasised that importers do not deliberately leave cargo behind. "Due to a lack of cooperation or customs complications, we often cannot clear goods quickly despite the high costs of importing them," he said.
Representatives across the trade sector stress that full-scale coordination among all 26 agencies involved including banks, shipping lines, freight forwarders, and logistics providers, is vital.
"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 also highlighted operational challenges, noting that customs officers deployed to unfamiliar branches during holiday shifts often lack specific expertise in local assessment rules and Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs). Kazi Mahmud Imam, former general secretary of the Chattogram C&F Agents Association, said officials assigned to different branches may not always have sufficient experience with the assessment rules, statutory regulatory orders and other requirements of those branches.
NBR under pressure to hit target
The drive to keep customs open comes as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) faces significant fiscal pressure. In the first two months of the current fiscal year (FY26), NBR collected Tk14,017.34 crore against a target of Tk21,530 crore, leaving a shortfall of Tk7,512.66 crore. While authorities hope 24/7 port operations will boost overall collections toward the annual import-customs target, business leaders maintain that success hinges on synchronising the entire logistics and banking network.
