Introduction

Are you a recent law graduate and looking to make a career in indirect taxes or wish to become a customs broker? or,

Are you a corporate lawyer or an in-house counsel looking for a career shift? Or

Are you practising/pursuing the Company Secretary (CS) or Chartered Accountant (CA), Cost & Management Accountant (ACMA/FCMA) or MBA, and wondering if there are any areas where you can work on cross border trade related activities?

If you fall in any of the above categories, then the CBLR exam is one of the best exams you can take right now.

Who is a customs broker?

He is an individual authorized by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to help/assist the importer and exports in India, to ensure compliance with the laws, regulations and procedures related to import and export. Here are some the main functions performed by a customs broker in India:

• Inward and outward processing of vessels and carriages. (Undertake clearances of all types of carriers, such as ships, trails and aircrafts),
• Import and Exports of Goods.
• Perform audit of the above at the customs stations under his jurisdiction.
   

Challenges faced by lawyers, CAs, CFAs, CMAs and CS while cracking the CBLR exam

• Not having time to study for the exam while working full-time. A competitive exam tests knowledge and skills in a very different way from the work that you perform as a lawyer, CS, CFA or a CA on a daily basis. You will need to put in dedicated hours to study for the exam. People who dedicate full-time to study can put in 12-16 hours everyday for such exams, but working lawyers, CAs, CFAs and CS cannot afford to do that, and thus, they need to have a superior strategy to cover this gap.
• High degree of competition and constraints like negative marking, high failure rate leaves no scope for errors. In the CBLR exam in India, the passing rate ranges between  10-12 percent. Therefore, more than 85 percent of candidates will fail the exam. This requires you to do everything possible and leave no room for errors.
• Difficulty in memorization of a vast syllabus. The major difficulty in this area is due to the lack of proper mentorship and guidance. It is true that the syllabus of any competitive exam ought to be vast, however, the trick is to be able to strategize your study plan in such a way so as to focus more on the areas that carry a more significant weightage and brush up the other concepts.
• Uncertainty because of a change in format and non-availability of past years’ papers. There have been significant changes in the examination pattern of 2019, 2020 and 2021. Not being able to find the past year papers adds to our already long list of worries while preparing for the cexam.
• Insufficient guidance on specialized subjects: The CBLR exam has some unique subjects which require dedicated preparation, such as the Customs Law related statutes like Customs Act, 1962, Customs Tariff Act, 1975, Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act,1992, Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017,  HandBook of Procedures (HBP), Foreign Trade Policy and many allied Acts like FSSAI, Plant Quarantine, Animal Quarantine, Drug Control Bureau, BIS etc..
• Lack of tailor-made study material to prepare in a focused manner. In the written test of CBLR Regulation (6) exam, you need to attempt 150 questions in 2 hours . Though the time is not a constraint, you need to practice as per the exam’s prescribed format to be ready to complete all the questions with correct answers as the questions will be very tricky in nature so that you will end up in selecting the wrong option.
• Absence of progress indicators along your preparation journey. You can study for hours but still not know where you stand with respect to the rest of the competition. You need a measurable mechanism that tells you everyday how much of the preparation is complete and how much is left. You also need to know where you stand with respect to others who are preparing for the exam, else you risk losing focus and slowing down your preparation.  
• Absence of a systematic strategy for exam preparation and at the time of the examination. When you have limited time, how should you plan out your preparation? What aspects should you focus on? What can you leave out or focus least on during your preparation? How to find out your strengths and weaknesses? How to manage your time in the examination hall? Which questions to attempt first and which ones to attempt later? When should you take a calculated guess? These are some of the questions which need to be factored by you at the beginning of your preparation itself.   
• Preconceived notions about the exam or your strengths and weaknesses. You might think that you are really good at certain subjects and hence, do not require any effort to prepare for the same. However, such an idea without proper assessment (mocks and practice tests) often leads to a miscalculated attempt which we can absolutely not afford in case of an unpredictable exam like CBLR Regulation (6).
• Lack of mentorship: A clear guidance is the sine qua non for being able to successfully crack any competitive exam. You need someone who can effectively guide you through the process of preparing for the exam and who can help you in assessing your own strengths and weaknesses.
• Technological and other difficulties in attempting a competitive exam online. We are used to online classes on Zoom, Google Meet and MS Teams, but how exactly will an online exam environment work? A change in the medium of attempting exams (online vs. physical) requires some acclimatization to the new technology.
• Difficult in cracking the oral examination: In order to finally become a licensed customs broker, the candidates will have to showcase an exceptionally good personality, including- good communication skills, good body language with confidence and a good understanding of the subject matter. Unfortunately, even the brightest students lack some of the above mentioned skills required for this exam.

What is new?

So far, lawyers who wanted a stable earning focused specifically on UGC-NET, UPSC or judicial services or The SEBI Grade A legal exam. CBLR Regulation (6) Exam is a relatively new exam that has been instrumental in capturing the attention of a lot of people out there. Thus, this exam might not have all the pertinent information available  that can be considered to be authentic and reliable to enable you to clear the same.

Examination Pattern:

Syllabus for Written Exam and Oral Exam:

Benefits of getting selected:

• Career stability during a recession: At a time when the recessionary clouds are looming large over the economy and people are facing pay cuts and job freezes as well as redundancies across the board, the customs clearance was still active, without any real slow down. (After the introduction of minus marking in 2018, only around 10% of the total candidates appearing, actually clear the examination. This makes the profession more valuable.)
• Volatility - yes, but slow down, no: Further, in a recessionary market, regulators would possibly have to be more active, given that people can be driven to use scrupulous means to even survive. 
• Wide exposure to different innovative implementations by the government like faceless assessment for example has made the role of a customs broker much more important:.
• Ability to operate at Pan India level: The customs broker can operate from various major and minor ports all over India though he has to operate from the port within the jurisdiction of the commissionerate where he has obtained the license for the first two years. You can employ those who are the F Card holders to work on behalf of you at various ports. If you prefer not to obtain the license, you can join the operations team of any customs broker, or a firm of brokers or the company owning the license(s) as an F card holder where you can put your exposure and knowledge of the Customs related activities to the best use.
• A chance to get an international trade exposure: While working with the importers and exporters for the purpose of clearing their cargoes, you need to contact so many trade intermediaries like freight forwarders, liners and liner agents operating at international level which will improve your networking also. You will come to know various Government initiatives like preferential trade agreements, Trade promotion schemes etc. which will improve your knowledge to provide better quality services to the clients.
• LUCRATIVE Returns: Service Fee is usually charged at INR 3,500-4,500 per container cleared. The more the number of containers cleared the more will be the Income. In addition to this, consultancy fees can be charged for so many allied services like getting the FSSAI clearance, Plant quarantine, Animal quarantine, Drug Control Bureau clearance, BIS etc also.

What happens if you do not crack this exam?

Course Structure

Course Details

A student will be provided with the following-
Total Number of MCQ: 1800
Total Number of Notes:195 
Total Number of Live Classes:15 
Additional: Counselling as well as Doubt Resolution Support.

5-step method to confidently prepare for the CBLR Regulation 6 Exam

We will be covering both the Written exam as well as Oral Exam.

#1 - Weekly timetables to plan out your preparation

A lot of us face trouble with demarcating clear-cut targets for each day, let alone an entire week. We understand this predicament and thus, we provide a weekly time-table wherein we set out the targets that are to be completed by you for the week. These targets are set keeping in mind the duration of the course (six months or until the date of the conclusion of the exam, whichever is later). 
The weekly targets are supplemented with weekly practice-tests that have been designed keeping your former targets in mind. This really helps you in analyzing your performance with regard to your weekly targets and in assessing your own strengths and weaknesses.

#2 - Intensive classroom preparation during weekends so that your existing work is not disturbed

We understand that a lot of you might be working professionals who will not have the bandwidth to attend live classes during the weekdays. To eliminate this lacuna, our classes are conducted during weekends at conducive timings (evenings) that allow you to focus your attention towards the concepts that are taught in the class itself.

#3 - Reinforce your learning through ‘layering’ by following the three-pronged approach

Is attending a live class the only solution to effective learning? Our answer to it is ‘No’. Learning the same concept through classroom, study material, pre-recorded content, topic-wise assignments and practice tests, which will eventually be followed by mocks, to help you in retaining the concepts that you have learnt during the course of your preparation. This will also help you in becoming more confident regarding your own approach towards the exam and in eventually being able to crack the same!

Do you remember the last-minute study for college exams where you’d highlight the important portions, make short notes for the last minute revision? What if we inculcate that in the first step of your preparation itself? The Test-Prep notes at LawSikho have been built in a way to cater to your photographic memory, adopting the three-pronged approach:

Step 1: Find the relevant provisions of the Bare Act along with theory 
Step 2: Important concepts being explained through tables and flowcharts.
Step 3: A uniform colour scheme approach for explaining important concepts.

#4 - Periodic counselling calls to stay motivated and analyze strengths and weaknesses

The course of preparation for any competitive exam is not an easy one- it is filled with thousands of impediments that can make you lose faith in your own abilities. Since we understand the gravity of this issue, we will also be arranging a one-to-one periodic counselling session with each one of you to understand the problems faced by you at the individual level and to collectively find a solution to the same.

#5 - Stay focused on progress through subject-wise practice tests and full-length tests with rankings

In any competitive exam, speed is critical and this can only be achieved by practicing, practicing and practicing! To help you with this, we provide you with chapter-wise assignments that are followed by weekly-tests and mocks. Since these will be timed assignments, they will help you in getting comfortable with the reverse clicking of the clock while you are taking the exam. Also, the more you practice, the more confident you will become

Bonus sessions on interview preparation

We will be organizing an introductory session on how to clear interviews followed by two mock interviews for students who clear the former stages of the exam. This will help you in getting rid of your inhibitions before you appear for your actual interview!

Certification

This course is recognized by the National Skill Development Corporation, a PPP under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of the Government of India. You will receive a certificate cobranded by NSDC and Skill India on successful completion.

This is how the certificate from NSDC and Skill India will look as per the current applicable format (may change as per the approval authorities):

Money-back policy

After following the weekly time-schedules, attending all the live classes and attempting weekly Practice Tests for the initial one month, if you feel that the course is not up to the mark, we guarantee you a refund.

What is the career potential after doing this course?

• This course will thoroughly prepare you to clear the CBLR Regulation (6) Exam.
• Concepts of the Customs law and related statutes are not easily and smoothly understood by all. You will grasp these through our course and be able to earn from assignments using this niche knowledge.
• You can even secure a position as an in-house counsel with listed entities who need people who have a good understanding of how the regulatory mechanism works.
• You can even get into firms providing a niche in Customs laws services on the basis of your gained understanding of these laws.