Customs warn public against online auctions

Mr. Prince Akwaboah, the chief revenue officer in charge of customs auctions, hinted that the customs department of the Ghana Revenue Service is considering online auctions of general goods and vehicles to expand its scope.

The person in charge of the customs auction revealed that the procurement plan has been advanced to select technical partners for the service.

However, Mr. Akwaboa warned that the Ghana Revenue Agency will not conduct online auctions until the official announcement is made, and the public should consider any such current advertisements issued in the name of GRA as fraud.

He emphasized: “I want to remind the public that we have not yet started online auctions.”

When talking about the port issue, the chief revenue officer in charge of customs auctions revealed that the department’s highly concerned report is that some unknown individuals or groups have started online auctions in the name of the Ghana Revenue Authority, which threatens Ghana.

He said that there should be no contact with such entities, and GRA will widely publicize its announcement when a highly secure online auction system is in place.

Mr. Akwaboa said that in order to bridge the information gap between the discovered equipment and the public, the Glasgow Customs Service will continue to carry out a wide range of activities to completely eliminate the myth of selling cars at the port.

He emphasized that neither GRA nor any related agencies working in the port will sell cars in the country’s ports.

The chief revenue officer in charge of customs auctions refuted the false public notion that people can often buy auction cars at any time.

He said that instead, auto auctions are not frequent, and thorough processing is required to mark cars. Even in this case, nationally issued daily newspapers will publish announcements.

He clarified: “Auctions are not conducted every day, they are conducted regularly, so you must be present and participate in the bidding process.”

He said that the purpose of the auction is to enable the country to recover tariffs on uncleared goods, while the reserve price of auction items such as vehicles is equal to the tariff.