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The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has requested the Bangladesh Bank to extend the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) facility to 24/7 for it to facilitate port users' mandatory online payments of customs duties and charges.
It recently wrote to the central bank to take necessary steps in this regard.
A central banker concerned said, "We are working on it."
In its letter, CPA said Chattogram is the main seaport, which handles around 92 per cent of the country's total export-import trade.
It said the port functions round the clock but banks operate till 3:30pm every working day. That is why port users cannot complete all the necessary transactions within this period. As a result, they have to release their ships the following day by making the required payments.
CPA said the existing short RTGS hours are not only causing delays in collecting the port's dues but also depriving the government of real-time revenue from income tax and value-added tax (VAT).
Among the conventional banking services to collect CPA dues, only RTGS transactions can currently be done until 3:30pm. It will be possible to make operations smoother and collect port dues in real time if the RTGS facility can be availed 24/7, CPA explained.
A CPA official said extending the RTGS hours would help with the timely collection of income tax and VAT revenue.
"Recently, CPA initiated a process to fully automate port users' payments and the collection of dues from them. It is expected to be finished shortly," he added.
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