In India, a customs house agent (CHA) is licensed to act as an agent for transaction of any business relating to the entry or departure of conveyances or the import or export of goods at a customs station. CHAs maintain detailed, itemized and up-to-date accounts. A CHA license may be temporary or permanent. CHA licensing regulations, 1984

No ceiling on the number of CHAs who may be appointed in a customs house
A regular licence is preceded by a temporary licence.
Criteria of experience and financial soundness must be met.
A regular licence is subject to passing an examination, A minimum volume of business and compliance with Regulation No. 14.
Changes in the constitution of a partnership or firm do not affect the operations of a CHA.
Prescribed fees prevent overbilling by CHAs.

Multimodal transport operators as CHAs
Multimodal transport operators (MTOs) are appointed under the Multimodal Goods Transportation Act, 1993 by the Ministry of Surface Transport. Their work involves carrying goods by more than one mode of transport between India and abroad. This does not confer a right on them to obtain an appointment as steamer agents or CHAs unless they are otherwise qualified for the appointment.

Licence types
Temporary
After accepting an application, a one-year temporary licence is granted under Regulation 8 in Form B. Before receiving a temporary (or regular) licence, the applicant must execute a bond on Forms D and E. For major ports, the surety amount is Rs.25000/; for other ports, Rs.10000/. Surety may also be given in the form of National Savings Certificates or postal security, which should be pledged in the name of the Commissioner. Since a regular licence-holder is allowed to work in more than one Customs station, separate bond and surety must be posted for each customs station.

Regular
An application for regular licence may be made on Form C by a person who has passed the examinations. Forms A and C are nearly identical, except that while the former is issued under Regulation 5, the latter form is issued under Regulation 10. A regular licence is requested on Form D. The applicant must satisfy the following conditions:

Quantity or value norms of cargo cleared from the customs house (as determined by the Commissioner)
Applicant conduct during the temporary-licence period; no complaints of non-compliance with Regulation 14
A regular licence is nontransferable, and its term is ten years.

Disqualifications
Regulation 10(1) specifies that only a person who qualifies in the examination can apply for a regular licence. Sub-regulation 3 provides that the Commissioner may reject the application of a person who fails the examination. If performance criteria are not satisfied regarding quantity and value of clearances or conduct, the application may be rejected. An appeal may be made of an order of rejection within 30 days to the Chief Commissioner, who is also empowered to review regular licence grants within one year.16915032
These Customs House Agents act on behalf of you with customs officials to undergo necessary export and import clearance procedures and formalities. In an export, a customs broker delivers documents to exporter after completing necessary export formalities with customs. In an import trade, goods are delivered to importer by customs broker after completing necessary import customs clearance procedures and formalities with custom department.