Pakistan Customs has issued a show-cause notice seeking the cancellation of a public bonded warehouse licence held by a major refinery over alleged violations involving the delivery of nearly 24 million litres of petrol without completing mandatory customs procedures.
According to the notice, the refinery operates a public bonded warehouse on Jhumra Road in Faisalabad under a licence issued pursuant to the Customs Act, 1969. As the warehouse licensee, it is required to verify Ex-Bond Goods Declarations (GDs) through the WeBOC system before releasing bonded petroleum products and to obtain prior approval for transfers between bonded warehouses.
Customs has alleged that, between January 1 and June 24, 2026, the warehouse delivered 23,809,324 litres of Motor Spirit (petrol) to Gas & Oil Pakistan Limited without first verifying the required Ex-Bond GDs through the WeBOC system.
The department further alleged that the bonded fuel was released before the filing of Ex-Bond Goods Declarations and payment of the applicable duties and taxes. According to the notice, the alleged irregularities delayed the collection of government revenue and, in certain cases, resulted in incorrect collection of the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) on the supplied fuel.
Customs has alleged that these actions violated Sections 97, 99 and 116 of the Customs Act, 1969, read with Rule 468 of the Customs Rules, 2001, which govern the removal and delivery of goods from bonded warehouses.
On the basis of these allegations, Customs has called upon the refinery to explain why its Public Bonded Warehouse Licence No. 04/BWH/PUB/2000 should not be cancelled under Rule 344 of the Customs Rules, 2001, without prejudice to any additional legal action available under the law.
The refinery has been directed to submit a written reply and appear before Customs through an authorized representative to present its defence. The notice states that if no response is received, the matter may be decided on the basis of the evidence available on record.
The allegations contained in the show-cause notice have not been proven, and no final determination has yet been made by the customs authorities.
