BAGGAGE RULES FOR TOURISTS

These rules are not applicable to Tourists of Nepalese and Bhutanese origin coming from these countries.

WHO IS A TOURIST?

A tourist is a passenger

·  Touring;
·  Recreation;
·  Sports;
·  Health;
·  Family reasons;
·  Study;
·  Religious pilgrimage; or
·  Business;

ITEMS ALLOWED DUTY-FREE

Personal Effects

All your personal effects like clothing and other articles new or used which you reasonably require, excluding merchandise for commercial purposes will be allowed free of duty. Personal effects which are not consumed during your stay in India are required to be taken back on leaving the country.

Travel Souvenirs

You can bring with you travel souvenirs upto a total value of Rs.2,000/- and these will be passed free of duty.

Gifts

A tourist of foreign origin visiting India for a stay of more than 24 hours, can bring articles except specified items at Appendix A up to a value of Rs.750/- (Rs.6,000/- for tourists of Indian origin) free of duty, which are intended as gifts, or even for his personal use.

Cigarettes, Cigars, Tobacco, Alcoholic Liquors.

Tourists, whether of foreign or Indian origin, are allowed the following items duty-free but within the free allowance:

Special Concessions For Tourists Of Indian Origin to Bring Articles On Payment Of Duty.

Tourists of Indian origin can also import items of personal and household effects for presentation as gifts and souvenirs to friends and such articles which are in excess of the free allowance or which cannot be cleared under free allowance can be cleared on payment of duty. The details of rates of duty etc. can be seen under Baggage Rules for Residents (Other than Tourists).

Foreign Exchange/Currency

You are not allowed to take out or bring into the country any Indian currency, as export and import of Indian currency, without permission of the Reserve Bank of India, is prohibited.

Declaration of Foreign Exchange/Currency is required to be made before the Custom Officer in the following cases.

Channels of Clearance

There are two channels for Customs clearance- i) Green Channel for passengers not having any dutiable goods ii) Red Channel for passengers having dutiable goods

You are advised to report at the appropriate channel for Customs clearance.

MISHANDLED BAGGAGE

In case your baggage has been lost or mishandled by the airlines, please obtain a certificate to that effect from the airlines and get it countersigned by Customs indicating specifically the unutilised portion of the free allowance.

Appendix A

These rules do not apply to persons coming from Nepal, Bhutan, Burma & China. 

What should you do when you leave India?

If you intend taking out with you articles of high value such as a camera, video camera, video cassette recorder or jewellery, be sure to ask the Customs Officer, at the time of your departure, for an Export Certificate for such articles. He will examine these and certify that they are being taken out of India by you. Keep this certificate safe with you and when you return to India, show the Certificate to the Customs Officer who will then be able to pass these free of duty. The advantage of having the Export Certificate is that the concessions you are entitled to, when you return, are not affected.

Please take special care to obtain an Export Certificate in respect of jewellery that you intend to take out to avoid any problem on your return.

INDIAN RESIDENTS OR FOREIGNERS RESIDING IN INDIA

Duty-free concessions

Used articles of personal wear, excluding jewellery but including one wrist watch, articles of personal use for taking care of the daily necessities of life.

Besides the used personal effects, you are allowed free allowances as under :

Cigarettes, cigars, tobacco, alcoholic liquors

You may include in this duty free allowance the following :

Pooling Of Free Allowance General free allowance of Rs.6,000/- or Rs.1,500/- as the case may be cannot be pooled with any other passenger.

Clearance on payment of duty

Articles which exceed the duty-free allowance of Rs.6,000/- and articles imported as unaccompanied baggage can be cleared on payment of duty at the rate of 55% ad valorem. However, articles mentioned at (i) to (iii) above will attract higher duty. Separate rates of duty have been fixed for gold and silver.

Calculation of duty

in case the value of one item exceeds the duty-free allowance, the duty shall be calculated only on the excess of such amount.

In case of television sets, additional duty is also chargeable.

Domestic pets

You can bring in domestic pets like dogs, cats, birds, etc. Import of animals and birds is governed by strict health certificate regulations. These are not set out here but your airline or travel agent or our Embassy will tell you what particular Health Certificate you need for your pet.

CONCESSIONS TO PERSONS ENGAGED IN PROFESSION ABROAD FOR OVER THREE MONTHS.

The following additional duty-free concessions are available to persons engaged in profession abroad for over three months.

Household goods which are actually used by the passenger during his stay abroad. These are specifically:

Linen; Utensils; Tableware; Kitchen appliances; and an Iron.

The total value of all these household goods should not exceed Rs.6,000/-

Professional equipment

If you are a passenger engaged in your profession abroad for over six months, you are allowed to import free of duty, such portable equipments, instructions, apparatus and appliances as are ordinarily required in your profession, up to value of Rs.20,000/- (Rs.10,000-/ where stay is less than 6 months but more than 3 months).

Please note that this concession is available on items used by carpenters, plumbers, welders, masons and the like and shall not include items of common use such as cameras, cassette recorders, dictaphones, typewriters, personal computers and other similar items.

CONCESSIONS TO PASSENGERS RETURNING ON TERMINATION OF WORK AND STAY ABROAD OF NOT LESS THAN ONE YEAR.

If you are an Indian Passport holder and returning to India after a period of not less then one year of stay abroad, you may import free of duty your personal effects and household articles upto a value of Rs.30,000/-. This concession is available subject to the following conditions:-

(a) Television receiver.

(b) Sound recording or reproducing apparatus.

(c) Video reproducing apparatus.

Items not allowed free or at concessional rate of duty under this category :

Firearms

Cartridges of firearms exceeding 50

Cigarettes exceeding 200 or cigars exceeding 50 or tobacco exceeding 250 gms.

Alcoholic liquors & wines in excess of 1 litre each

Gold or silver in any form other than ornaments

JEWELLERY

A passenger who has been residing abroad for over one year is allowed to bring jewellery, free of duty, worth Rs.10,000/- in the case of male and Rs.20,000/- in the case of a female.