The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Manila International Container Port (MICP) is asking stakeholders to pay their customs fees and charges online to minimize face-to-face transactions amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
BOC, in a statement, said stakeholders can now pay customs fees and charges through PayMaya as well as BOC-accredited agent banks.
The bureau last June inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Bureau of the Treasury, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and PayMaya Philippines, Inc. for the implementation of the online payment system.
READ: BOC to implement online system for payment of customs fees
Under the MOA, PayMaya will accept payments of miscellaneous fees and charges–other than customs duties and taxes–from BOC clients through PayMaya’s Payment Solutions (PPS).
PPS services include Online Checkout, which accepts credit/debit cards for local and cross-border payments; Bills Payment via PayMaya app; Pay by PayMaya; PayMaya One POS (point-of-sale) terminal that accepts credit/debit cards and PayMaya QR payments; and Smart Padala Centers Bills Payment.
The MOA also covers payment of client service fees specified under the MOA, as well as the arrangement of depositing the collected BOC fees and other payments to the DBP.
In another development, BOC said the Landbank of the Philippines branch at Manila International Container Port (MICP) is closed from August 3 until further notice for disinfection and cleaning. Client payments may be processed through the Landbank branch at the Port of Manila.
BOC has been encouraging stakeholders to use its online portals for transactions to avoid travel and face-to-face transactions during the pandemic.
In line with this, it recently established dedicated portals for the online filing of goods declaration at MICP and Port of Manila.
READ: BOC creates MICP, POM portals for goods declaration filing
Starting August 1, goods declaration and import documents intended for MICP and Port of Manila will be submitted through portals pomportal.customs.gov.ph for Port of Manila and micpportal.customs.gov.ph for MICP.
BOC transactions and online filing for other ports will continue to be processed through the Customer Care Portal System at client.customs.gov.ph.
Assistant commissioner and spokesperson Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla stressed the customs bureau “will no longer shift to a manual system and we will maintain the online systems already.”
