Provisional assessment of duty
81. (1) Where it is not possible immediately to assess the customs-duty that may be payable on any imported goods entered for home-consumption or for warehousing or for clearance from a warehouse for home-consumption or on any goods entered for exportation, for the reason that the goods require chemical or other test or a further enquiry for purposes of assessment, or that all the documents or complete documents or full information pertaining to those goods have not been furnished, an officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Customs may order that the duty payable on such goods be assessed provisionally:
Provided that the importer (save in the case of goods entered for warehousing) or the exporter pays such additional amount as security or furnishes such guarantee of a scheduled bank for the payment thereof as the said officer deems sufficient to meet the excess of the final assessment of duty over the provisional assessment.
[(2) Where any goods are allowed to be cleared or delivered on the basis of such provisional assessment, the amount of duty actually payable on those goods shall, within a period of one hundred and twenty working days from the date of the provisional assessment, where there is a case pending at any court, tribunal or appellate authority, from the date of receipt of the final disposal order of that case, be finally assessed and on completion of such assessment the appropriate officer shall order that the amount already guaranteed be adjusted against the amount payable on the basis of final assessment, and the difference between them shall be paid forthwith to or by the importer or exporter as the case may be:
Provided that the Board may, under exceptional circumstances recorded in writing, extend the period of final assessment specified under this sub-section.]