An overview of the Customs Act, 1962 :
The entire gamut of the Act is grouped into seventeen chapters.
The following table presents an overview of the said chapters and aims at securing the reader’s understanding of the provisions of the Act in a proper perspective.
| Ch. No. | Chapter Heading | Sections | Content |
| I | Preliminary | 1 & 2 | Short title and definitions |
| II | Officers of Customs | 3 to 6 | Classes, appointment and powers of the customs officers. |
| III | Appointment of Customs ports, airports, warehousing stations etc. | 7 to 10 | Appointment of ports, Airports, landing stations and customs area |
| IV | Prohibition on importation and exportation of goods | 11 | Power to prohibit the import or export of goods.. |
| IVA | Detection of illegally imported goods and prevention of the disposal thereof | 11A to 11G | Notified goods, control over storage, sale, accounting, transportation etc. |
| IVB | Detection and prevention of illegal export of goods | 11H to 11M | Notified goods, storage, transportation etc. |
| IVC | Exemption from Ch. IVA and Ch. IVB | 11N | Central Government’s power to grant exemption. |
| V | Levy and exemption of Customs duty | 12 to 28BA | Dutiable goods, valuation, rate of duty, assessment, remission, exemption, interest on delayed payments. |
| VA | Indicating amount of duty in the price of goods | 28C & 28D | Price of goods and passing of incidence of duty |
| VB | Advance rulings | 28E to 28M | Authority, application, procedure, applicability and powers. |
| VI | Control over conveyances carrying imported or export goods | 29 to 43 | Arrival/departure reports, Import/Export general manifest, entry inwards, place time and restrictions on loading/unloading, water borne goods etc. |
| VII | Clearance of goods | 44 to 51 | Bill of entry, shipping bill, clearance for home consumption/warehousing and exportation, storage of goods, |
| VIII | Goods in transit | 52 to 56 | Transit and transhipment procedures |
| IX | Warehousing | 57 to 73 | Appointment & licensing of warehouse, bonding of goods, period of warehousing, payment of rent and charges, clearance of warehoused goods, allowance for volatile goods |
| X | Drawback | 74 to 76 | Drawback allowable, Interest allowable, prohibition and regulation |
| XA | Special Provisions relating to Special Economic Zone | 76A to 76N | Omitted in view of the introduction of a separate Act namely, Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 |
| XI | Special provisions relating to baggage, goods imported or exported by posts and stores | 77 to 90 | Declaration, rate of duty and valuation, exemption and procedures |
| XII | Coastal goods and vessels carrying coastal goods | 91 to 99 | Entry, restrictions, clearance, loading and unloading and application. |
| XIII | Searches, Seizure and Arrest | 100 to 110A | Powers and procedures of search, seizure and arrest. |
| XIV | Confiscation and penalties | 111 to 127 | Powers and procedures for confiscation and for levy and collection of penalties. |
| XIVA | Settlement of cases | 127A to
127N |
Application for settlement, procedure, powers of settlement commission, inspection etc. |
| XV | Appeals and revision | 128 to 131C | Procedure and time limits for appeals and revisions |
| XVI | Offences and prosecutions | 132 to 140A | Cognizable offences and procedures for prosecution. |
| XVII | Miscellaneous | 141 to 161 | Recovery of sums due, power to take samples, licensing of custom house agents, liability of principal and agent, delegation of powers, general power to make rules etc. |