The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has deactivated a key module in the Web-Based One Customs (WEBOC) system that allowed the manual entry of auction vehicle data.
This action comes in the wake of a serious breach involving the misuse of official user IDs for feeding in data pertaining to auctioned vehicles.
According to official correspondence, the Directorate General of Reforms and Automation (Digitization), Customs House Karachi, was alerted to irregular activity linked to the user IDs designated for Assistant Collector (AC) and Deputy Collector (DC) Auctions.
Preliminary scrutiny revealed that certain user credentials were exploited to input vehicle auction data into the WEBOC Auction Module without proper authorization.
The investigation identified three user IDs created by MIS officers at different customs offices.
The Directorate of IOCO, Lahore on April 21, 2025, generated Zeeshan (CUS-3540517) and Yousuf Khan (CUS-3135725) accounts by AC/DC MIS and remained active until July 8, 2025. These accounts were used to enter data for 24 auctioned vehicles.
In addition, another ID, Waqas Khattak (CUS-2914393) was created at the Collectorate of Customs, Air Freight Unit (AFU), Faisalabad on February 26, 2025. It was used to input auction details for 31 vehicles.
Surprisingly, the vehicles listed under these entries were shown to be associated with MCC Appraisement West, Karachi, raising questions about jurisdictional inconsistencies and procedural compliance.
The situation appears to be more widespread. A total of 1,873 auctioned vehicles have been recorded in the WEBOC system through the now-suspected manual auction data module.
In response, the FBR has moved swiftly to disable the auction vehicle data entry module, effectively halting any further unauthorized use while a comprehensive review and data verification process is underway.
To ensure transparency and prevent future misuse, the Directorate has recommended that the FBR formally direct all Customs Collectorates and Directorates to transition to the newly developed E-Auction Module. This platform is designed to minimize human intervention, reduce the risk of fraud, and provide a digital audit trail of all auction-related activities.
Until the complete verification of data and overhaul of the manual module is completed, the manual data entry function will remain suspended.
