GUIDE FOR TRAVELLERS

1 GUIDEFOR TRAVELLERSINDIAN CUSTOMSD irectorate of Publicity and Public RelationsCustoms & Central Building, Estate, New Delhi-110109As on RULES AT A GLANCEE very passenger entering Indian has to pass through aCustoms check. He / She must fill up the Disembarkation Cardclearly mentioning the quantity and value of goods that he hasbrought. On his / her arrival the passenger is first cleared byImmigration Officer, who retains the Immigration portion of theDisembarkation Card. Thereafter the passenger takes the deliveryof his/her baggage from the conveyer belts & passes throughCustoms. The passenger has the option of seeking clearance throughthe Green Channel or through the Red Channel subject to the natureof goods being AND RED CHANNELSFor the purpose of Customs clearance of arriving passengers,a two channel system has been adopted(i)Green Channel for passengers not having any dutiable goods.

2 (ii)Red Channel for passengers having dutiable ,(i)All the passengers shall ensure to file correct declaration oftheir baggage.(ii)Green channel passengers must deposit the Customs portionof the disembarkation card to the Customs official at the gatebefore leaving the terminal.(iii)Declaration of foreign exchange/currency has to be madebefore the custom officers in the following cases :(a)where the value of foreign currency notes exceed US $5000 or equivalent(b)where the aggregate value of foreign exchange includingcurrency exceeds US $ 10,000 or equivalent-Passengers walking through the Green Channel withdutiable / prohibited goods are liable to prosecution/penalty and confiscation of of Narcotics and Psychotropic substances isa serious offence and is punishable with FREE ALLOWANCES AND ENTITLEMENTSFOR INDIAN RESIDENTS AND FOREIGNERSRESIDING IN INDIAA Resident means a person holding a valid passport issuedunder the Passports Act,1967 and normally residing in passengers coming from countries other than(a) Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar or China.

3 (b)Pakistan by Land RouteDuty Free Entitlements ForFor P assengers For Pas sengersBonafide Baggageof age 10 Y e a r s o f age below 10& aboveYearsUsed personal effectsFREE*FREE*(excluding jewellery)required for satisfyingdaily necessities of lifeOther articles carried inperson or in accompaniedbaggage(a) if Stay abroad for Va l u e d upto Valued upto more than three #(b) if Stay abroad upto Valued uptoVa l u e d u p to three *If returning after stay abroad of more than three days.# Notification dated free allowance shall not be pooled with the free allowanceof any other The free allowance is not applicable to the following of fire arms exceeding exceeding 200 or cigars exceeding 50 ortobacco exceeding 250 liquor or wines in excess of 2 or si,lv ienr any form, other than laptop computer (notebook computer)

4 Over and above thesaid free allowances mentioned above is also allowed dutyfree if imported by any passenger of the age of 18 years goods over and above the free allowances shall bechargeable to customs duty @ 35% + an education cess of3% to say the effective rate is drinks and tobacco products imported in excess offree allowance are chargeable to custom duty at the ratesapplicable to their commercial imports as per the CustomsTariff Act, normally resident of India who are returning froma visit abroad Indian currency upto Rs. 7,500 is case the value of one item exceeds the duty free allowance,the duty shall be calculated only on the excess of passengers coming from(I) Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar or China, otherthan by land route(ii)Pakistan by land routeUsed personal effectsFREEFREE(excluding jewellery)required for satisfyingdaily necessities of lifeOther articles carried inperson or in free allowance shall not be allowed to be pooled with thefree allowance of any other The free allowance is not applicable to the following goodsDuty Free Entitlements ForFor P assengers For Pas sengersBonafide Baggage of age 10 Y e a r s o f age below 10& aboveYearsif Stay abroad for more than three (a)Fire arms.

5 (b)Cartridges of fire arms exceeding 50.(c)Cigarettes exceeding 200 or cigars exceeding 50 ortobacco exceeding 250 gms.(d)Alcoholic liquor and wines in excess of 2 litres.(e)Gold or silver, in any form, other than laptop computer (notebook computer) over and above thesaid free allowances mentioned above is also allowed dutyfree if imported by any passenger of the age of 18 years goods over and above the free allowances shall bechargeable to customs duty @ 35% + an education cess of3% to say the effective rate is drinks and tobacco products imported in excess offree allowance are chargeable to custom duty at the ratesapplicable to their commercial of Indian currency is prohibited. However , i n the case ofpassengers, who are resident of India and are returning from avisit abroad, Indian currency upto Rs.

6 7,500 is the value of one item exceeds the duty free allowance,the duty shall be calculated only on the excess of such ALLOWANCES FOR PROFESSIONALSRETURNING TO INDIAAn Indian passenger who was engaged in his profession abroadshall on his return to India be allowed clearance free of duty, inaddition to the aforesaid allowances, articles in his bonafide baggageto the extent as mentioned below:-(a)Indian p assenger (i ) U s e d household articles upto anreturning afteraggregate value of 3 month(ii) P r o f e s s io nal equipment upto a valueof ,000/-(b)Indian p assenger (i ) U s e d household articles upto anreturning after atleastaggregate value of month(ii) P r o f e s s io n a l e q uipment upto a valueof ,000/-(c)Indian passenger(i)Used household articles and personalreturning after a stayeffects, (which have been in theof minimum 365 dayspossession and use abroad of theduring the precedingpassenger or his family for at least six2 years on terminationmonths)

7 , and which are not mentioned inof his work, and whoAnnex I, Annexure II or Annexure III of thehas not availed thisBaggage Rules 1988 upto an aggregateconcession in thevalue of , three : For the purposes of baggage rules Professional Equipmentmeans:Such portable equipments, instruments, apparatus and appliancesare required in the profession in which the returning passenger wasengaged. This expression includes items used by carpenters,plumbers, welders, masons and the like; This concession is notavailable for items of common use such as Cameras, CassetteRecorders, Dictaphones, Typewriters, Personal Computers andsimilar FREE ALLOWANCES AND ENTITLEMENTSFOR TOURISTS DEFINITION OF TOURIST?A tourist is a passengera)who is not normally a resident in India;b)who enters India for a stay of not more than six months in thecourse of any twelve months period for legitimate non-immigrant6purposes, such as : touring, recreation, sports, health, familyreasons, study, religious pilgrimage, or business.

8 A tourist arriving in India shall be allowed duty free clearanceof articles in his bonafide baggage to the extent as mentionedbelow:-Articles allowed free of duty (1) ( 2 ) a)To u rists of Indian origin(i)used personal effects and travelcoming to India othersouvenirs, if -than tourists of Indian( a ) these g oods are for personal use of theorigin coming by landtourist, a n d routes as specified in ( b ) these goods, other than those consumedAnnexure IVduring the stay in India,are re-exportedwhen the tourist leaves India for a foreigndestination.(ii)articles a s allowed to be cleared underrule 3 or rule 4.(b)T o urists of foreign(I) u s e d personal effectsorigin, other than(ii) articles o t h e r t h an those mentioned inthose of PakistaniAnnexure I upto a value of 8000 fororigin coming frompersonal use of the tourist or as giftsPakistan, coming toand travel souvenirs if these are carriedIndia by the person or in the accompaniedbaggage of the passenger.

9 (c)To urists ( i ) used personal effects(I) of pakistani origin(ii) a r t i cles o ther than those mentioned incoming from PakistanAnnexure I upto a value of 6000 forother than by landpersonal use of the tourist or as giftsroutes;and travel souvenirs if these are carried(ii)of P akistani origin oron the person or in the accompaniedforeign tourists comingbaggage of the pa s s e n ger. by land routes asspecified inAnnexure IV;(iii)o fIndian origincoming by landroutes as specifiedin Annexure ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) are the Channels of Clearance?There are two Channels for Customs Clearance:i)Green Channel for passengers not having any dutiablegoodsii)Red Channel for passengers having dutiable are advised to report at the appropriatechannel for Customs Who can bring Jewellery as baggage?

10 An Indian passenger who has been residing abroad for overone year is allowed to bring jewellery, free of duty in his bonafidebaggage upto an aggregate value of Rs. 50,000/- (in the caseof a gentleman passenger) or ,00,000/- (in the case of a lady passenger). are the norms for the import of Alcoholic drinks /Cigarettes as baggage?Following quantities of Alcoholic drinks and Tobacco productsmay be included for import within the duty free allowancesadmissible to various categories of incoming passengers :-Alcoholic liquors or Wines upto 2 litres-200 Cigarettes or 50 Cigars or 250 gms. of T o b a rate of duty applicable on these products over andabove the above mentioned free allowance is as under :(i)CigarettesBCD @100%+ educational cess@ 3%(ii)WhiskyBCD @150% + ACD @ 4% + educationcess NIL.